His Nyas
by LilyBelleMichele188
Summary: Agent Carter is sent with her co-agent Barton to watch over the Tesseract while S.H.I.EL.D's top operatives test its potential. When a strange warrior from a different world appears during the midst of the operation and takes away the man she loves, Carter not only has to team up with people she does not know, but also with someone she doesn't trust to save him and the world.
1. Chapter 1

**(So, to all my readers, I am still trying to continue my other stories. I just wanted to try something new so here it is. This story is actually 100% complete but I just posted the first part to see how it would be recieved before posting the rest. If you guys like it I will post the rest of the story so I hope you like it. It's based roughly on Avengers movie that came out a couple years ago.)**

"Dr. Selvig! Report!" The familiar voice of the constantly war minded Director Fury echoed through the cool metallic boundaries of the underground laboratory as Mercy stood her guard in her usual place right on the rafters of the high ceiling.

She and several other S.H.I.E.L.D agents were stationed here under Director Fury's orders watching over the Tesseract while a group of supposedly highly trained scientists experimented on it, trying to understand it's energy source.

Mercy bit her lip. She knew what Nick's real intentions were with this experiment though she dared not say anything about them to him or to anyone.

Not even to _him_...well especially not to him.

Giving only half an ear to the conversation below her, the well experienced yet young agent of barely twenty eight winters carefully adjusted her grip on the harness she was using to maintain her perch while looking over at all the people working in various areas of the secret laboratory.

Her hand stayed trained to the weapons at her waist while the Physicist known as Eric Selvig began explaining all the details of what he and the others had found out so far about the Tesseract.

The thing proved more volatile than anyone had anticipated when S.H.I.E.L.D first brought it in to the headquarters. It shut off and re-ignited itself with no plausable explanation and every once and again it would send high levels of gamma radiation shooting around the lab though no one had been injured or otherwise compromised as of yet since Mercy and her partner Agent Barton had come on the scene.

Agent Carter sighed and leaned carefully towards the argument below her when she heard the Director getting a little agitated.

She longed to look down where her partner and former close comrade stood ready with his eye on everything below him. His trusty bow and quiver of arrows strapped to his back and a couple of hand guns on his belt.

She dared not though and still it made her heart ache when she thought of it.

Several months ago the two of them would have been standing together in the same spot even though Mercy preferred to have a higher bird's eye view than Clint did in order to watch his back for him since he usually was watching everyone else's during missions.

Weapons would be at the ready, eyes on the scene and they would be basking in each other's irreplaceable company while staying focused on the task at hand.

Those days were long gone now and Agent Carter knew exactly who to blame for it.

"...And where are Agent Barton and Carter? I told them to keep a close eye on things while we're working." Director Fury's voice cut into Mercy's thoughts and she grimaced at being associated with her work partner.

Though they still worked together professionally, Mercy still resented having to remain close to the person who broke her heart the night he returned to base from Budapest with a prisoner he was assigned to eliminate.

One look into his eyes as he explained his decision to Fury and Mercy knew...she knew all she needed to know about his intentions...about his feelings for her.

"The Hawk and his Nyas?" It seemed that Selvig was feeling snarky. Carter grinned as she lightly swung back against the wall behind her. "Up in their perches as usual." He motioned towards the ceiling then walked off to check something on one of the monitors.

Mercy chewed on her lower lip. She had to remember to remind Selvig not to refer to her and Clint by that joint alias anymore.

She was not his Nyas and he was not her Hawkeyes. Not anymore.

"Agent Barton! Carter report!" Director Fury's clipped authoritative voice broke into Mercy's thoughts once more. She looked down just as Clint hopped down from the shaft where he was standing.

Mercy stayed where she was though, despite knowing it was not wise to disobey direct orders from her superior. She instead lowered herself down from the ceiling and took up Clint's vacated post before listening to the Hawk explain things to Fury from the shaft where he had stood only moments before.

If either of them had noticed that Mercy had not yet complied to her orders they did not act as if they cared.

The young agent stayed where she was for a minute longer surveying the whole room before reluctantly sliding down on her wire to the main level of the chamber just in time to hear Clint say something about seeing things better from above.

Director Fury greeted her as if she were right on time. "Ah! Carter! Just the woman I wanted to see! Any news on your end?" He asked with a tone that told the younger agent he was hoping for better news than whatever Selvig or Clint had told him.

Mercy shook her head. "Nothing contrary to Agent Barton's report Sir." She flipped her bangs from her face and nodded at Clint before striding past him to get to Selvig.

Clint started to nod back when he realized she had taken her attention from him and stopped himself.

"And so the Nyas returns from the canopy." Selvig murmured without looking up from the computer.

Mercy rolled my eyes at his slight remark. "Don't call me that anymore. It's not what I am...not to him." She said quickly while bending over to skim over the readouts Erik and another scientist had open on the monitors.

"Are you sure? You still seem to prefer working closer to the sky than most of us do...and heaven knows you're no hawk." Erik joked clearly meaning to humor the girl, but Mercy was no mood for it.

"I'm only four years Barton's junior thank you very much." Carter set her jaw and straightened up from the computers. "Besides he's made his choice." She turned to walk to the other side of the lab.

Selvig chuckled. "Oh I don't know about that." He picked up a test tube of some sort and examined what was in it for a minute. Mercy decided to change the subject.

"Director Fury is getting worried." She said as if Selvig hadn't sensed that already from his earlier discussion with the one eyed commander.

Erik emitted a grunt. "Yes well he's right to be. You saw it all from your perch I imagine. This thing is unpredictable! It's like she's waking up from a power nap." He grinned slightly and Mercy smiled too at how excited he sounded through his fear.

Like as if he were glimpsing the rarest jewel on earth through a plated glass box set in his hands.

However the Tesseract was far from a precious jewel. It was a power source and one Mercy was sure they wouldn't be able to handle even with the highly qualified experts who were there at their service working every bit of their own brain matter to find the answers.

She started to say something in response to the doctor when the Tesseract suddenly pulsed with high levels of gamma radiation.

Falling into instinct, Carter pushed Erik and his assistant over onto the ground to keep them from being hit by the harmful rays that began sparking all over the test chamber knocking everyone who didn't react as fast flat off their feet.

When it was finally quiet, Mercy slid out under Erik's desk and waited until the smoke cleared before peeking out to scan the area.

Her eyes widened at what she saw. A tall figure, a man it seemed appeared knelt on the platform where the Tesseract stood.

His hair was jet black and ended just below his chin line. His skin was milky white while his nose was slightly pointed. In his hand was a long staff made of gold and pulsing with the same energy that came from the tesseract.

Carefully Mercy rose to her feet as the man lifted his face, revealing a sinister grin below his silvery green eyes.

A shiver ran down her spine.

"Sir! Put down the spear now!" Director Fury found his voice first and the man turned his attention towards him.

Carter put a hand to the knives she kept at her shoulder and waist as the man looked from Fury to the staff in his hand as if this was the first time he'd noticed it.

Barton started to reach for his gun when the man suddenly attacked Fury without any warning.

Clint dodged rolled to the ground to avoid getting hit though several others were not as fortunate.

The strange warrior grinned as agent after agent threw themselves at him to keep him from getting to Fury again. Mercy gritted her teeth and struggled for a minute to maintain her composure as lives faded around her.

Grabbing a few of her knives, she slid out from under the desk throwing two daggers at the strange man's legs just before Barton took a hit to the chest and slammed against the wall.

The warrior turned to face Carter staggering slightly when one of her knives imbedded itself in his right shoulder.

Slowly he reached to pull the small blade out of his arm and smirked when Mercy suddenly flew into him and kicked him over with both feet slicing him across his face with another slightly larger knife.

The man grunted in surprise, stunned at the injury at first, but then his expression changed into a sudden fury when he realized that Mercy had another two knives held at his neck.

With an animalistic yell the warrior struck Mercy with his fist then used the power from his staff to fling her into a cluster of machines on the other side of the lab.

Fury quickly crawled to the Tesseract as Mercy struggled to right herself, pulling another knife from her hidden arsenal despite the pain that ripped through her body.

Other agents tried to close in while Fury work to conceal the still pulsing cube in an anti-radioactive briefcase, but the strange man easily dispatched them as if he were fending off a pack of newborn puppies.

Mercy grimaced and put her knives away. Even though she was better with them she knew she had to use something else to subdue this hostile stranger. Something Clint was more comfortable with than she was if she was being honest.

Glancing at Barton briefly she grabbed her short pistol from the inside of her boot and cocked it before aiming for the warrior's exposed head.

She barely missed her first shot and the warrior turned gracefully in her direction. A smile lit his face though it was a not a warm smile by any means.

Carter felt a shiver run down her the back of her spine as he started to walk towards her with his staff, but she quickly composed herself and began shooting again.

Each bullet bounced harmlessly off of his armor and Carter cursed under her breath as she bent to reload her gun.

The man suddenly appeared in front of her and grabbed the front of her pistol before she could bring it up to ready position again.

"You have a stout heart." He said in a soft voice that almost sounded almost endearing.

Mercy raised an eyebrow. "At least I have a heart." She said in as a cold a voice as she could muster.

A taunting look came over the man's gaze. "Do you now?" He seemed intrigued. Slowly he pointed his staff at her chest and Mercy panicked briefly at the energy she felt radiating off the tip of the object.

"Mercy No!" Barton suddenly leaped across the room and landed between Carter and the strange warrior.

He tried to grab the scepter and wrench it out of the other man's grip but the strange warrior was faster and put the tip at the center of Barton's chest, surprising him enough to cause him to emit a shocked grunt.

Mercy lost her composure. "No!" She shrieked before raising her gun again. The warrior laughed at her. "I wouldn't shoot now if I were you." He smirked in a warning tone before lowering his staff.

Mercy hesitated at that and Barton loosened his grip on the tip of the man's scepter. He turned to face his former co-agent with a strange unrecognizable look in his eyes.

Mercy felt her stomach churn. "Clint?" Her voice was barely a whisper as her finger shook on the trigger.

Barton turned away at her question. His expression was one of indifference and there was no trace of recognition in the former agent's eyes which were an icy blue in color now instead of its normal smoky blue.

Mercy gasped.

"Please don't." The man suddenly spoke and Mercy twitched her head back in his direction. "I still need that." Fury froze midstep in his attempt to leave the lab.

Mercy realized he had the tesseract.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Nick spoke with almost an abnormal amount of calm given the current situation.

Barton quietly put his gun away.

"Of course it does!" The strange warrior stepped forward a bit towards Fury. "I've come too far for anything else!" He seemed crazed.

Mercy kept her gun trained at the side of his head though she was shaking now and barely in control of her own emotions.

"I am Loki of Asgard." The man introduced himself in that same insane voice. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose!"

"Loki?" Selvig slowly picked himself up from the floor. It seemed he was intrigued by the hostile stranger just as he had been with the Tesseract. "Brother of Thor!" Loki scowled slightly at that.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury spoke authoritatively. Loki sneered at that. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot." He said snarkily. Mercy forwned at that.

Fury cocked his head to the side. "You planning to step on us?" He asked with tone of disbelief in his voice.

"No I come with glad tidings." Loki shook his head. "Of a world made free!" He declared. Mercy narrowed her eyes. _Free from what?_

"Free from what?" Fury voiced Mercy's question.

"Freedom." Loki shrugged. "Freedom is Life's great lie. Once you accept that in your heart," Loki pointed his staff at Selvig this time and the older man gasped before the same icy blue color smogged over his eyes.

Loki smirked at his handiwork. "...you will have peace."

Mercy shuddered. _This guy is nuts!..._She repositioned her gun at Loki's head and cocked it ready to fire. He pretended not to notice her.

"Yeah you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other thing." Fury muttered. Barton cocked his gun.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling." He walked around Loki fixing Fury with a cold expressionless look. "This place is about to blow. It'll drop a hundred feet of rock on us..." He strolled casually by the tip of Mercy's pistol without turning in her direction and stopped. "He means to bury us."

"Like the Pharaohs of old." Fury stood his ground. Selvig bent to check something on a computer.

"He's right. The portal's collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this place goes critical." He affirmed Barton's statement.

Mercy bit her lip. "Clint please don't do this!" She pleaded without thinking about the consequences. She regretted it almost immediately because Loki turned instantly in her direction and his expression made her blood curdle.

Barton turned to face her, but his expression was still cold, lifeless and nothing like the Clint Barton Mercy knew and still loved despite everything that happened between them.

Suddenly Loki let out a manic laugh. "Well then..." He drawled once his laughter had died down a bit.

Without warning Barton suddenly shot at Director Fury and Mercy shot at Loki simultaneously. The bullet hit Nick dead center in the chest and he flew across the lab from the impact of the bullet losing control of the briefcase where the Tesseract was hidden.

Barton jumped between Mercy and Loki, this time catching the bullet Mercy just fired in his right arm.

Loki turned and grinned as Mercy screamed in horror at what she did.

Barton gave no notice to her. He put away his gun and ran after Loki and Selvig grabbing the briefcase Fury lost in the rubble.

Mercy dropped her gun and grabbed another knife from her vest before running across the lab to go after the three men. "Carter!" Fury's authoritative voice made the agent stop in her tracks despite the urge to continue the chase.

"I know what Agent Barton means to you, but don't make this personal! Retrieve the Tesseract at all costs! That's an order!" Nick ordered through slightly ragged intakes of air.

Mercy shook her head. "No promises there Director." She continued to run up the stairs grabbing another knife from her left boot. "He _made_ this personal." She muttered to herself.

"Be careful!" Fury continued, shoving himself to his feet before searching through his trench coat for his radio communicator.

"The one called Loki is not of this world and he has powers that are way beyond your skills." He warned.

Mercy clenched her jaw. "I'm not just an agent." She responded before running off out of the lab. She reached for another knife, this one longer and more intricately made than her other ones.

_I'm coming for you Clint..._She shoved open the doors.

...


	2. Chapter 2

**(Chapter 2. I hope you like the way I wrote the action scenes.)**

...

"Carter!" Mercy skidded to a halt when she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Agent Hill?" She glanced around swiftly for her friend only to barely miss a bullet that whizzed by the side of her head.

Following her training she dropped immediately to the ground and fired a few return shots before tossing her knife in the direction of the gunfire.

One bullet managed to graze the size of her arm though, and she clenched her teeth to keep from crying out in pain as Barton easily dodged her shots and jumped into the truck without noticing where Mercy's special knife had landed.

Agent Hill crawled over to her as Barton and the others quickly boarded one of the armored trucks and backed out of the garage.

Carter huffed and shoved herself back to her feet. "Get a car started!" She barked towards Hill while reloading her spare pistol. Her eyes never left Barton's. "We can't let them get away with the tesseract!"

Hill nodded and grabbed Mercy gently on the shoulder as she reloaded her own gun. "Are you sure you can do this?" She asked, her voice belying concern to the other agent.

Mercy cocked the gun. "Don't worry about me! Just get to the car!" She snapped before flipping herself over a destroyed vehicle into an armored SUV Carter remembered taking with Barton on several missions before.

Hill leaped into the driver's seat of the car and started the ignition with a deafening roar that almost made Mercy's knees buckle when she jerked out of the parking lot, but she managed to keep her balance.

Soon Loki and Barton realized that they were being followed and Barton passed the wheel to Selvig before climbing out into the truckbed.

Mercy took a deep breath. _You're making me do this, Love._ She barely hesitated before firing the first shot. Barton dodged it though and fired back at her.

Carter flinched and continued to shoot, ignoring the pain and the nagging feeling in her gut when another bullet grazed Barton's arm and a second went through his knee.

This time Clint took a second to look down at his injury before grinning and pulling an arrow and his bow from behind his back.

Carter's eyes widened. _Oh crab apples..._She dodge rolled to the side just as Clint shot one of his tampered arrows at her nearly losing her balance when the car skidded around from side to side.

Barton smirked as they went into a dark narrow tunnel. Carter gritted her teeth together before jumping back on her feet pulling the arrow from her wrist.

_You always were the better marksman between us Clint...but not by a lot._ Mercy reached for her knives.

She threw two at the same time and Barton deflected them. Mercy bit her lip and threw three more at a blinding level of speed. Again Barton evaded her attacks as if it were mere child's play.

He started to smile until a fourth knife embedded itself in his ribs. Clint let out a short agonized yell before drawing out the knife.

It dripped with a strange blue liquid as he drew out and he winced as his wound started to burn from the effect.

"Carter!" Hill screamed when the car Barton was in drew alongside their vehicle and starting shooting at them.

Mercy cursed under her breath and took her attention from Barton momentarily only to realize that Director Fury's chopper had lost an engine in the crossfire and was going down.

_Shoot! _"Keep her steady Hill!" The agent snapped before pulling another two more knives from her jacket.

Barton smirked and raised his bow. Mercy threw both of her knives and Barton deflected one with the wide side of his bow. The other landed in one of the truck's back tires exploding on contact.

Mercy braced herself against the explosion but the impact sent her flying anyway from the back of the SUV into a ditch nearby.

Hill turned the car around and slammed the parking brake just as Barton and the others quickly made their escape despite the destroyed back tire.

Mercy groaned.

"Carter!" Hill jumped out of the driver's seat and scrambled down the divet. The other agent sat up coughing up dirt and water.

"I'm fine!" She scrambled clumsily to her feet just as Director Fury appeared over the top of the ditch.

The smell of smoke and burning metal filled the two agents' nostrils and Mercy grimaced as she fought against the urge to cough.

"Agent Hill! Carter! Report!" Fury bellowed from the top of the hill using the blue tooth communicator everyone in S.H.I.E.L.D used.

Hill tapped her comm first since Mercy was still catching her breath. "There's still a lot of men under. Don't know how many survivors. Carter got thrown from our escape vehicle, but she doesn't seemed injured very severely."

Mercy tapped her own speaker ignoring the little bit of blood she felt dripping down her forehead. "Director! Barton got away! I blew one of the tires, but it doesn't seemed to have slowed them down." She spoke between ragged breaths of air.

Director Fury looked grim. "Did you get a tracer on them?"

"Yes Sir! I don't think Erik or Barton has discovered it yet, but it won't take long for one of them to realize what I did. We'll need to move quickly if we're going to stop Loki from getting away with the cube." Carter grimaced at the throbbing pain in her right arm.

"Sir what should we do?" Hill cut in.

Fury took his time responding. "Sound the call. I want every living agent now working rescue looking for that briefcase!"

Carter nodded her head. "Roger that!" She started to tap out of the communication line when Fury stopped her. "No, not you Carter. I need you and Agent Coulson to get back to base! This is a level 7. so as of right now, we are at war. Do you copy?"

Mercy hesitated for a minute. "I copy..." She turned to exchange glances with Hill.

"Sir..what do we do?" Agent Coulson's voice came over the speaker and both Carter and Hill looked up to gauge Director Fury's response.

...

_Trust Fury to assign me to the one agent I can't stand to be near within a ten foot radius!_ Mercy fumed as she dialed the number Fury gave to her before sending her off on her assignment.

She scowled as she looked up at the tall building where Director Fury told her Agent Romanoff was being held by the mobsters she was supposed to be interrogating on a mission.

Typical really of the ex-Russian Assassin really to accept a mission so close to home.

"Da?" A thick Russian voice answered within two rings. Carter clenched her jaw. "Put Agent Romanoff on the phone." She spoke in her usual no nonsense voice.

There was a slight pause before a new voice answered the young agent's command. "You listen to me, we-."

"No! You listen to me! I know where you are and we have an attack jet waiting just eight blocks away from your location. I have more than enough guys surrounding the building on every floor so if you try anything or fail to put Agent Romanoff on the phone I will have my people blow your little operation sky high before you can make the lobby." Mercy cut the man off and waited with bated breath for his response.

A short pause later though, a female voice came through the earpiece. "Who is this?" She asked in her usual cold yet nonchalant voice.

Carter tightened her jaw. "Agent Romanoff we need you to come in immediately. Director Fury has called a Level 7 code red." She glanced at one of her men briefly as she waited for her fellow agent's response.

"Are you kidding me? I'm working here!" Natasha protested just as Carter had expected. She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"Yes well this takes precedence I'm afraid." She said almost snidely. "Director Fury asked me to pull you out since this is a dire emergency and we need the agency's best for the job. The Tesseract was taken by hostiles about an hour ago." Her stomach clenched as she thought about Clint.

"You're joking! I'm in the middle of an interrogation here and this moron is about to give me everything. You can't pull me out!" The woman protested more vehemently this time.

Carter suppressed her urge to snort when she heard a thickly accented voice in the background protest Romanoff's allegations.

"Look I'm sure...but, we need you to come in now Romanoff...Barton was compromised." She hesitated for a long minute before tacking on this last piece of information.

Natasha's silence on the other end of the line discomfitted her. "So I see...this is about him." Her voice betrayed no emotion though Mercy still resented the sarcasm in her tone.

"This is about the Tesseract." She corrected though she could still feel the heat rising at the other agent's attitude.

"Look I don't want to start anything right now and I'm under orders to bring you back to base, so just do what you to have to do to meet me down in the basement of the building. I'll be waiting in a jeep." She turned to head out of the parking garage.

A short paused preceded Agent Romanoff's next response. "Let me put you on hold." She responded calmly before Carter heard a loud crack on the other end of the line followed by a startled yell.

Several more cracks and screams later, Natasha picked up the phone again. "All right I'm on my over! Where is Barton now?" She asked more like demanded which made Mercy narrow her eyes a little though she knew Natasha couldn't see her.

"We don't know. He left with the hostiles about an hour ago when the Tesseract was taken. Director Fury has initiated the call for the Avengers and we need you to go get the big guy for us."

Mercy nodded at her driver and he began backing the car out of the building. Natasha laughed sarcastically at that. "Look Carter, I know you and I don't exactly see eye to eye on everything, but you and I both know Tony Stark will probably throw me out the window before trusting a word I say." She said snidely.

Mercy shook her head at that.

"As amusing as that sounds, Coulson's got Stark, Romanoff...You have the big guy." She could almost feel Natasha's shock as she hopped into the jeep to wait for for the other agent to show up.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Natasha grumbled. Mercy smirked. "Do I detect an ounce of fear?" She asked being a little smart.

Agent Romanoff snorted. "Let me guess. You're assigned to find Barton." She said though she didn't sound as disgruntled about it as Mercy expected.

Despite this she kept up a cool demeanor. "Sadly no. Director Fury thinks I'll make it too personal so someone else was assigned to the task. I did put the tracker on him though so I'll take credit for that." She said smugly.

Natasha snorted. "Ah figures. I'm almost to your level now. Where are you parked, Agent Carter?" She asked getting straight to the point.

Mercy shrugged. "We're right by the entrance to the parking lot. Hurry up! We don't have a lot of time." She urged before checking the clock on the jeep's dashboard.

"Roger that!" Natasha hung up and Mercy did the same, heaving a heavy sigh.

"Why the long face, Nyas?" Agent Romanoff suddenly appeared by the front window and Mercy jumped though she tried her best to hide her surprise.

"Don't do that!" She almost growled annoyed. "And don't call me that either!" Natasha just laughed at her. "Why not? You look like you're having the time of your life right now. Besides doesn't everyone call you the Nyas?" She said, the sarcasm practically dripping from her statement.

Mercy sighed. "Look I told you I don't want to start anything. Not now anyway. Director Fury needs all of us to put our differences aside if we're going to stop this Loki character from destroying the world." She stared out the window as Agent Romanoff hopped into the seat next to her in the jeep.

"Fair enough." She nodded her head and the driver took off. "But if you ask me, I think that Fury had a little something more in mind when he assigned you to find me." She smirked as she wiped a bit of blood from her mouth.

Carter did not turn from the window. "What do you mean?" She asked in a voice that sounded more vulnerable than she wanted it to.

Natasha shrugged. "Well it's not exactly rocket science Carter...ever since Barton brought me back instead of killing me as he was directed, you and him started drifting apart. And I have a feeling you think it's my fault." She settled back against her seat.

Mercy chewed on her lip. "Of course it's your fault. I saw the way you looked at each other." She muttered bitterly. "It wasn't hard to figure out Clint's reasoning after that." She reached into the back of the jeep and grabbed a jacket.

Natasha rolled her eyes as Carter threw it at her. "Please...if you think Agent Barton is shallow enough to dump you for me, than you are not the agent I thought you were when we first met at the base point." She turned to look out the other window as she pulled the jacket on over her lingerie.

Mercy finally turned her gaze. "What is that supposed to mean?" She asked suspicion lighting her voice. Natasha shrugged a shoulder.

"You've got blood on your face still..did you know?" She asked deliberately ignoring the other agent's question.

Mercy bit her lip. "I'm fine." She insisted before turning back towards the window.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Sure you are." She turned to look out the other window.

A few minutes later though, she turned back. "Where is the Big Guy now? I imagine not anywhere near here considering his situation." She changed the subject again earning another eye roll from Mercy.

"In Southern India...somewhere on the outskirts. According to the file Fury showed me, he's working there as a house doctor for the poor." She brushed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear as she spoke wincing when she accidentally grazed her head wound.

Natasha nodded her head at that. "Sounds like fun. When do I leave?" She asked sounding a little eager as she checked her holster for her gun.

Mercy turned her gaze. "Immediately. Here!" She bent over and grabbed something from under her feet. Romanoff blinked just as a pair of black leather pants almost hit her in the face.

"You'll want to look at least half decent when you check in for your flight." Carter smirked slightly as the driver pulled the jeep over in front of a small run down airport. "Good luck."

Natasha sighed and rolled her eyes before expertly sliding into the garment. "Don't need any luck." She hopped out of the car and slammed the door before strolling confidentally towards the airport.

...


	3. Chapter 3

**(So I've decided to post one or two chapters a day for this. Hope you enjoy.)**

...

"Agent Carter? Director Fury-."

"No! No more orders until we've got a trace on Loki and the others! That's an order Agent Hill!" Mercy swiftly cut Maria off, wringing her hands through her hair as she stared at the computer screen.

She'd been there for hours it seemed searching for any sign of Loki or Barton. Even Selvig if it were possible.

Her eyes were bloodshot from pure exhaustion and it seemed to make all of her other wounds flare up more than they already were though of course Agent Carter being who she was would never admit to this.

It made Hill feel frustrated.

"Mercy?...Have you had those checked out yet?" She motioned to a particularly nasty gunshot wound that Mercy had sustained while fighting Barton during the car chase.

The bullet was still inlodged in her arm and it hurt her more than her other wounds did at the moment, including her head wound, but Mercy still refused to admit to the pain.

"I'll clean up once I'm done here." She gritted her teeth and clicked on another indicator on the computer.

Agent Hill sighed. "Mercy we _will_ find him and Selvig. You need to keep up your strength for what's next if you want to see Clint again." She tried to put her hand on the other agent's shoulder, but she flinched away.

"You didn't see him Maria! He wasn't himself!...He didn't even recognize me!" Mercy punched the table with her good arm and dissolved into what felt like her fifth or sixth fit of tears.

The action caused the blood to flow more freely from her wounds worrying Hill who noticed that Mercy hadn't even changed out of her old uniform yet.

"Mercy, you really need to get yourself checked out." She tried as gently as possible to help her up from the computers, and blanched when she saw the small puddle of blood under one of her hands.

_The arrow wound!..._

Mercy shook her head. "No! Not until we find him! Then...I'm going to free him myself from that maniac! And then!..." She sat up abruptly and painfully in her seat and keyed more information into the computer ignoring her body's audible protests.

"...I'm going to kill him!"

Agent Hill sighed at her stubbornness. "Director Fury will have my head and Coulson's if we leave you like this. You know he was supposed to leave on his next assignment twenty minutes ago, but he's worried about you...as am I." She glanced up at the catwalk where the senior agent was watching them from above.

He was supposed to have left to bring Captain Rogers to the hellicarrier platform, but his concern for Agent Carter kept him from leaving immediately.

Since Mercy and Clint first came to work for S.H.I.E.L.D together, Coulson had been fascinated by their level of comradeship and dedication to each other.

When Agent Romanoff came into the picture all of that seemed to change, but Coulson thought he knew better.

Carter never lost that look in her eyes whenever Barton came near and though Barton acted like his feelings for Carter had diminished, even he couldn't hide the truth.

"Mercy please,..." Agent Hill tried once again to persuade Carter to seek medical attention. "...for Agent Barton's sake if not for us." She put her hand gingerly on the other woman's shoulder.

Mercy kept her back to her.

"Agent Carter?" Hill softened her voice and withdrew her hand slowly as the other agent's breathing became quickly more ragged. Suddenly Mercy collapsed over the keyboard and a soft siren blared as her head hit an error combination.

"Carter!" Hill screamed as Agent Coulson suddenly appeared beside her scooping up the unconscious girl in his arms before running for the doors.

"Page the medical staff!" He snapped at Hill who nodded and followed after him, fumbling with her communicator.

...

"How is she?" Fury asked in a conversational tone that hid his worry from Agent Coulson.

"She's stable." The senior agent shrugged as he looked down at his feet. "The medics think she'll pull through in a week despite the severity of some of her injuries. Fortunately Agent Carter's blood type is very common and the arrow Barton shot into her wrist wasn't poisoned." He smiled slightly at this.

Director Fury raised his good eyebrow. "A _week_?" Coulson nodded. "She lost a lot of blood and all the adrenaline her body was using sent her into complete shut down mode." He looked down to answer his pager.

Director Fury looked grim. "It's Barton isn't it?" He said more to himself to Coulson.

"Sir?" Coulson raised an eyebrow.

Fury shook his head. "Where is the Captain?" He asked dismissing his last statement. Couslon shrugged.

"In the main area I think. Getting to know Banner and the others." He smiled slightly at the thought. Fury snorted.

"Tell him I need him to meet me by the medical bay." He turned to leave the second floor corridor.

Coulson looked confused. "The medical bay?"

Fury nodded. "You heard me right." He continued down the hallway without breaking his stride.

...

"I'm confused. Why does Director Fury want me to talk to Agent Carter? Shouldn't someone closer to her like Hill or you be better for the job?" Steve asked as he waited in the lift with Agent Coulson.

Coulson shrugged. "Well Director Fury thinks you may be able to take some of the stress from her mind by talking to her while she's in recovery. She was a huge fan of yours when she was a child or so I was told." The agent smiled as he gently fingered something in his right hip pocket.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Coulson nodded. "Yeah but that's not all...apparently her grandmother used to tell her stories about you too before she passed on. Since her Father wasn't able to be around for most of her life I think the thought of someone like you, made her feel safe...until Barton came into her life."

He quietly turned to gauge the other man's reaction. "You're kinda the reason why she agreed to join us...S.H.I.E.L.D." He smiled. Steve looked impressed.

"Really?"

"Sir?..We have reached the medical bay entrance." The cadet guarding the elevator spoke cutting into both men's thoughts though Coulson recovered first.

"Thank you Martin. We'll take it from here." He nodded at Captain Rogers who had quickly assumed his cool collected Captain America persona.

He barely glanced around as various medical persona of differing ranks hurried around to check on different patients.

Coulson glanced at him again when they reached their destination. "I'll warn you. It's not very pretty." He said before pushing the curtain aside. Steve frowned when he saw the young woman lying on the bed between the monitors.

She had several needles hooked up to her arms, injecting blood, IV and other kinds of medicines into her body.

Several large stitches held a rather nasty looking gash on her forehead together and Steve saw an even larger bandage wrapped tightly around her right wrist.

To him she barely looked alive save for the slight steady fall and rise of her chest.

Steve started speak when her eyes fluttered ever so slightly at the sound of Coulson's footsteps nearing her bedside. "Coulson?" Her voice sounded barely above a whisper when she recognized the agent standing above her. "What time is it?"

Coulson shrugged. "Just past noon, Agent Carter. I brought someone to meet you. Do you think you're up for it?" He smiled and looked up at Captain Rogers.

The woman followed his gaze. Her eyes widened slightly then she glanced back at Coulson. "Is that...?"

Coulson nodded. "I'll let you two have a minute." He turned to walk out of the area and Steve stared at him for a minute before moving to assume the agent's spot by the woman's bedside.

"You..you look just like your picture on the trading cards." The woman spoke in the same soft hoarse voice she used earlier.

The Captain turned his gaze from the machines to her. "Is that a good thing?" He asked trying to sound light though he couldn't help but feel concerned for this agent who was obviously still exhausted and in pain despite having been out in a coma for two days.

The woman smiled. "For me it is...My grandmother thought they didn't do you justice but...then again maybe she's right." She moved her arms carefully to her sides.

Steve smiled at that. "I'm Mercy by the way." The woman continued not taking her eyes from his face.

"Agent Mercy Carter otherwise known as the Nyas around here though I don't really like being called that much anymore." She licked her lips. Steve nodded before looking around until he spotted half full paper cup of water on a table.

"Well it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Agent Carter. I think you already know who I am." He said with a smile while offering her the drink. Agent Carter nodded.

"Yes. Thank you...My Grandmother told me about you." She struggled to sit up and reached with shaking hands to tilt the cup towards her mouth. Steve gently supported her with his arm.

"Do you remember her?" Mercy asked after she'd had her fill of water. The Captain gave her a questioning look.

"Remember who?" He turned to refill the cup at the sink.

"My Grandmother...She said she was there the day your plane went down and everyone thought you had died...Her name was Peggy Carter. Does it ring a bell at all?" She asked curiously.

Steve suddenly went rigid. A look of shock went through his expression though Mercy couldn't see it.

"Yeah I knew her..." He said softly after a minute. "...I was actually supposed to take her on a date..the day I went under." He set the cup of water back on the table and turned to face her.

"I bet she never forgave me for breaking that promise." He looked at his feet as he walked back to the bedside.

Mercy shrugged. "I don't know...she always said the nicest things about you. Maybe that's why my Grandpa didn't want to stay with her." She murmured more to herself than to the Captain.

Steve frowned at that.

"He left Peggy alone?" He asked lowering himself slowly in the chair next to her.

Mercy shrugged. "My Grandpa Dick wasn't exactly what you'd call a family man I suppose...Gran said he left as soon as he found out she was pregnant with my Dad...a few years later though she met my Grandpa Herm so it was all good." She smiled slightly as she snuggled back against the pillows. "He was as a good a man as one could ever be...considering he's not really my grandfather." Steve raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to your parents?" He asked innocently.

Mercy sighed. "Gramps and Gran took me in after my Dad was killed in action. According to him my Mom left right after giving birth to me, but I never got to know her. Apparently she was a hooker." She shrugged.

The Captain frowned. "That's not right." He said more to himself than to Mercy.

Mercy shrugged. "It's okay. I've dealt with it already. Besides my Gramps and Gran gave me all the love I needed." She squirmed under the sheets a little and frowned at all the needles that were taped to her arm.

"They're part of the reason why I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. All the stories Gran told me about you and World War II. Gramps too..I think that's why he just dealt with it when Gran told me more stories about you than him. We collected the cards together. Him and me."

She smiled as Steve reached to help her get comfortable. "Well...from what I heard you were very close to them...and to Barton." He said quietly hoping Mercy wouldn't get angry with him for the last part.

A brief pained look crossed the younger woman's face before she smoothed out her expression. "I don't know about Barton...he stopped treating me the way did after Agent Romanoff joined our ranks." She turned to look away from the Captain's gaze.

Steve sat back in his seat. "Agent Romanoff doesn't seem to think that way." He said trying his best not to stare at the gashes and bullet wounds that littered the woman's slightly exposed arms.

Most of them seemed to be bullet wounds.

Carter avoided his gaze. "You weren't there the day he came back with her...the look he had in his eyes...Romanoff has traits and skills that I could never have." She bit her lip.

Steve rolled his eyes at that. "Maybe, but she's not you...in my experience no one can ever replace the woman who truly has your heart. It was like that for me and your grandmother and I'm sure the same goes for Agent Barton." He leaned forward in his seat a little smiling sympathetically for the young woman's situation.

Mercy rolled her eyes. "Yeah well what matters now is the Tesseract. If that Loki freak gets away with it it will be hell for all of us." She shut her eyes briefly and breathed painfully.

Steve looked concerned. "Do need me to call in a nurse?" He started to get up. Mercy shook her head. "I just had a pain injection about an hour ago. I'll be fine."

She opened her eyes a little and smiled wryly at the Captain. Steve raised his eyebrows. "What?" He asked noticing the look on her face.

Mercy shrugged. "Nothing just...I can see why my Grandmother liked you. You're a really sweet guy." She smiled and snuggled back against the thin mattress she was lying on.

"A true Captain."

Steve smiled back.

"Captain! You're up! We have a 76% cross reference match in Germany so we need you to get down there and subdue our quarry." Director Fury poked his head around the thin walls of the medical cubicle.

Steve nodded his head. "I'm on it." He nodded at Carter who looked frustrated that she couldn't help out. "Take care of yourself, Agent Carter."

Mercy nodded her head at him. "Go get him Captain." She grinned and Steve suppressed a smile. "I'll do my best, Ma'am."

...


	4. Chapter 4

**(Next chapter.)**

**Dalonega Noquisi: It's so great to get your reviews again. I missed them since your reviews always inspire me to continue on my other stories. As for your questions, I don't plan on Steve and Mercy's relationship to go beyond friendship since for me it's kind of creepy to set someone up with him considering he's really like over 70 years old haha. Anyway I'm glad you like that I tied my OC with Peggy Carter. I hope you will enjoy the rest of the story too.**

**As for Mercy's appearance, I just thought long brown hair, dark eyes, skinny but not nearly as skinny as Black Widow, and she's probably a little shorter than Natasha too. I don't know how much this helps, but I hope it gives you at least a little picture of my character :)**

**Audrey Whyte: Awesome! Glad you like it :)**

...

"Agent Carter?...What are you doing? You shouldn't be up!" Agent Hill immediately reprimanded her friend when she saw her sitting on the edge of the bio bed pulling on her boots and grabbing what was left of her special weaponry from the table.

"Dr. Manning said that I am free to get some exercise just as long as I don't overstrain myself." Mercy stubbornly stood, staggering slightly before composing her balance.

Agent Hill rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that. I know what you're about to do! Ever since Loki was brought in you've been on edge again and I know why. Director Fury will not approve of this! We all know how personal this is for you."

Mercy bit her lip. "I just want some answers." She muttered walking past Hill with as much of her normal former stride as possible.

Hill grabbed her arm forgetting about her numerous bullet wound injuries. "Look! I understand where you're coming from, but this guy was known as the God of lies and mischief. You can't let him mess with your mind, especially in your condition! It's dangerous!" She hissed through clenched teeth.

Mercy yanked her arm away even though it hurt to do so. "I'll be fine!" She huffed before stomping out of the medical bay.

Hill sighed and shook her head. "I hope you're right." She muttered before turning to leave through the other exit.

...

"Hmm...there's not many people who can sneak up on me." The god practically chuckled to himself as he sensed another presence in the detention level with him.

He turned to see a thin pale looking woman standing in front of his cage her wounds clearly visible to him through her sleeveless shirt though she gave no sign of being in pain.

"Thought you'd figure I'd come." The woman snarled at him in response, venom dripping from her statement. "I certainly couldn't let this opportunity slide by." She folded her arms carefully in front of her chest.

Loki smirked. "You're barely able to stand...yet here you are, after whatever tortures Fury can concoct. You would appear as a friend...as a balm..and I would cooperate." He walked towards the woman.

The ensignia on her uniform told him she was a high level agent, but that didn't worry the young god much. She was just a woman after all.

A human woman no less.

"Don't flatter yourself!" The agent snapped at him glaring at him with the full fury of her glowing dark brown eyes. "My name may be Mercy, but I'm not known for showing any to people like you!...I came here to find out what you did with Agent Barton. Nothing more."

Her voice shook ever so slightly with her last statement, but that only made Loki's grin widen even more. "Do you love him, Agent Carter?" He quickly read her name on the badge.

The woman did not answer him. Loki let out a chuckle at the obvious answer in her expression and began to pace his cage.

"Well I'd say I have expanded his mind if you must know. Shown him things he's never known before..." He paused and leaned his arm against the glass that seperated him from the younger woman.

"...Tell me Agent Carter, what is it you have with Agent Barton that compells you to confront me like this..alone?" He sneered attempting to tower over her through the glass.

Agent Carter dropped her gaze. "Before S.H.I.E.L.D...we were neighbors in this rural part of the town we lived in. I arrived at my Grandmother's house the night my Father died in action...the same night Clint's Father died." She began to pace away from him.

"We grew up together as friends from that point...and we grew close...then we became co-agents when S.H.E.I.L.D found us and recruited us as top agents. There wasn't a mission we didn't go on together...and soon I realized that there was something else between us." She looked up to meet Loki's eyes once more and was surprised to find him seated on the other side of the cage watching her with an intent sort of interest as she spoke.

"That all changed of course..once Agent Romanoff came into the picture." She finished and Loki snorted.

"Did it?...Did that fire headed little wench really change your feelings for Barton?" Loki asked softly while gauging the agent's expression. "Cause that's not how I heard the story."

Carter rolled her eyes. "I don't think I'm obligated to discuss that with you." She started to leave clearly incensed.

"Oh no! But I like this!" Loki cackled standing once more with the same manic smile he had on his face back at base when he appeared from the Tesseract.

"Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man? You are indeed a fickle woman!" He cackled. "I like that."

Carter stopped and narrowed her eyes. "Shut up!" She snapped. "I may be in this to save Barton, but you are a god of lies and I hate anything to do with that word!" She clenched her right fist.

Loki chuckled and backed away from the glass from a bit. "And what would you do if I promised to spare him?" he asked a mischevious tone gleaming in his smooth silky voice.

"If I promised to release Barton to you before the night is out." He smirked.

Carter inclined her chin. "Not let you out if that's what you're thinking." She glowered at him.

Loki glared back at her. Suddenly he threw himself at the glass with a loud bang and Mercy cringed away from him.

"You quivering fool! _Agent_ Barton has told me everything about you two so don't you _dare _think you can go around thinking you have me fooled about your intentions here! I knew what you wanted the minute I sensed your presence and my answer to you is this you mewling Quim! I won't touch Barton! Not until I make him _kill_ you..._intimately_ in every way he knows you fear! And then he'll awake just long enough to see his good work! And when he screams I will split his skull!"

Carter quickly turned away from the cage. Her breaths came in short ragged gasps and Loki started to smile when he saw her shaking.

"You're a monster..." Carter shuddered.

Loki snickered at the terror he heard in her voice. "Oh no my Dear...you brought the monster. A monster who pretends he's a man." He grinned.

Carter suddenly turned sharply back in his direction. The terror was gone from her eyes though Loki could still see trails of tears on her cheeks.

"So Banner...That's your play." She spoke in a soft dangerous tone of voice that confused Loki. "What?" He asked scrutinizing her face.

Carter turned quickly on her heel. "Director, Loki means to unleash the Hulk. I'll explain everything later. Just tell me where Dr. Banner is and make sure he stays there until I arrive! I'm on my over!" She tapped into her earpiece.

Loki started to follow her movement in his cage. "Where do you think you're going?" He very nearly growled. Agent Carter stopped and turned to look him in the eyes as she reached the door.

"Thank you..for your cooperation Loki. I'm glad we had this talk." She bowed to him before smirking malevolently in his direction.

She then turned to punch in the exit password to the door and strode quickly down the corridor.

Loki just stared as she walked out and the door slid shut behind her.

...


	5. Chapter 5

**(Next Chapter. Hope you enjoy! I own nothing but Agent Carter.)**

...

"Carter! You shouldn't be up!" Romanoff stared disapprovingly at the agent when she finally made her way to the technicians lab.

Tony and Bruce made a face when they saw her injuries, though Fury just looked exasperated. "Agent Carter as your superior I order you-."

"Sorry Director, but this isn't about me anymore!" Carter quickly cut Fury off shooting the Director with a slightly apologetic look at the same time. Fury raised his chin.

"Well looks like someone's a little testy in here." Dr. Banner smirked lightly from the table where he was standing analyzing the reports being sent to him from the main area of the hellicarrier.

Tony snorted as a tall burly man with long blonde hair silently shifted across the room towards Carter. Mercy noticed he was wearing armor just like Loki.

"I just finished interrogating Loki." She clenched her jaw while eyeing the armored man. "He means to destroy us from within so we can't interefere with his plans." She glanced briefly at Dr. Banner.

"And just how do you think he plans to do this, Agent Carter?" Agent Romanoff approached her fellow agent calmly with a cool steely look in her eyes.

Mercy just motioned at Dr. Banner. "He means-."

"What is this?" Tony suddenly interrupted, pulling up various holograms on the computer.

Mercy started to frown at him irritated when Captain Rogers suddenly strode into the room.

"That's what I'd like to know." He slammed a strange large mechanical weapon of some sort on an empty table making Carter jump a little.

"I think I was right Director. The world hasn't changed." Steve scowled at the Director who looked like he didn't know how to respond to him at first.

Mercy just stared at the gun. "What is that?" She asked not recognizing anything in the build or markings of the weapon.

"It's a weapon built to run on energy provided by the Tesseract. Sorry, but the computer was working a little too slow for me." The Captain nodded at Stark who looked too irritated with the director to pay attention to him.

"It's a what?" Natasha asked shocked.

"I don't understand. Did nobody here know about this?" Dr. Banner walked across the lab to join Stark.

He sounded a little testy which made Carter and Romanoff feel a little on edge. "You want to think about removing yourself from this environment Doctor?" Natasha asked as calmly as always.

Dr. Banner raised an eyebrow at her. "I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed before you found me."

"Doctor Banner please stop! This is exactly how Loki wants you to react! He's manipulating you!" Carter protested.

"To do what exactly? What did he tell you when you went to visit his cell?" Banner asked more like demanded.

"Well you didn't come here because I batted my eyelashes at you, did you?" Natasha said a little too smugly before Carter could answer him.

"And I'm not leaving because suddenly your friend became a little twitchy!" Banner fired back at her before pointing an accusing finger at the files Stark just pulled up from the monitors. "I want to know WHY S.H.I.E.L.D is planning on using the Tesseract to build weapons of Mass Destruction!"

"Because of him!" Fury cut in suddenly motioning an arm at the armored man who up till now had been silent.

"Me?" He seemed confused and slightly offended.

Fury heaved a heavy sigh. "Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet...and they had grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned then that not only are we not alone. We are hopelessly and hilariously outgunned." He explained.

"Of course..." Carter bit her lip murmuring to herself. "The warrior from another a world. I remember that. " Mercy turned to face the armored man remembering the day he arrived on earth well.

_Thor...the Norse God of Thunder._

Mercy and Clint were assigned to guard Coulson that day shortly after the "strange sattelite" that turned out to be an ancient weapon, landed in New Mexico.

She kicked herself mentally for not recognizing him sooner. She had been on orders to kill him after all when the demi god attempted to take the hammer from S.H.I.E.L.D.

She was sure Thor hadn't forgotten her.

"I assure you, my people want nothing but peace with your world." Thor spoke in a rumbling baritone voice that seemed to radiate with authority.

"But you're not the only people out there are you?" Fury countered him fiercely. "And you're not the only threat! The world is filling up with people that can't be matched and can't be controlled!"

"Oh! Like how you control the cube?" Captain asked, the cold sarcasm clear in his voice.

Thor nodded his head. "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to your planet and his allies. It is a signal to all other realms that Earth is ready for a higher form of war." He said in a warning tone. Carter eyed him curiously.

"A higher form?" She asked and the man nodded at her.

"You forced our hand! We had to come up with something!" Fury protested.

"Like a nuclear deterrent? Because that's what always calms everything down, isn't it?" Stark cut him off.

"Remind me again, how did you make your fortune Stark?" Fury retorted. Mercy rolled her eyes. "Director with all due respect I don't see how that is relevent to the main point." She put in.

"I'm with her on this." Tony pointed at Carter.

Steve snorted at that. "Well I'm sure if Stark didn't still make weapons Director, he would still be neck deep in-."

"Hold on! How is this about me now?" Tony cut Steve off clearly getting agitated with the accusations.

"I'm sorry isn't everything?" Steve retorted non too politely.

"You've got be joking." Natasha muttered. Carter shook her head.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor spoke up again causing Carter rolled her eyes.

"Yeah I thought so too."

"Excuse me! Did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury turned his attention back to the armored man.

"Uh last I recall, _he_ didn't blow up anything!" Carter finally snapped causing both Fury and the armored man to glance in her direction. "He actually tried to protect us if you remember." She tried to calm herself.

"Agent Carter, I believe it is time for you to return to medical bay." Director spoke in a tone that told Carter he was getting sick and tired of all the bickering.

Mercy stood her ground though. "Why? So you guys can keep bickering and waste more time? Every second we spend doing this, Loki gets closer to his goal!"

"He's being contained in a high level security prison cell! What exactly do you think he'll be able to do behind bars?" Fury shot back at her.

"Anything! He's still got people out there and with Barton and Selvig still compromised it's very probable that he'll be planning an eventual escape!" Agent Romanoff cut in.

Director Fury groaned. "Look! We don't have time to argue about this. Until we get things back under control I ask that you all just-."

"Control?" Thor cut in. "You speak of control yet you cause chaos in your wake!" He thundered.

Dr. Banner snorted. "Well that's the M.O. isn't it? We're not a team here, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a ticking time bomb in a super jet!" He stepped towards the middle of the room.

Fury eyed him warily. "Doctor you need to step away." He said in a tense voice.

Banner swallowed hard at that.

"Hey why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark asked putting his arm on Steve's shoulder casually.

Steve glared at him. "You know d*** well why! Back off!" He snapped slapping his hand away. Stark barely looked phased.

"Oh I'm starting to want you to make me." He egged him on.

Steve snorted at that. "Oh yeah...a big man in a suit of armor. Take that off what are you?" He challenged.

Tony shrugged. "Genius, playboy, billionaire philanthropist." He answered casually. Carter let out a bitter laugh.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Steve retorted. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you ever fight for is yourself. You're not the kind of guy to make the sacrifice play. To lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you." He glowered.

"I think I'd just cut the wire." Tony retorted still sounding calm and casual.

Natasha groaned. "You guys can't be serious right now." She muttered under her breath.

Steve chuckled bitterly. "Oh yeah. Always a way out." He ignored Agent Romanoff. "You know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero." He threatened.

Stark became rigid at that. "A hero? You mean like you? I've seen your footage too Captain and you know what you are? You're a laboratory experiment. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." He snapped.

Steve raised his chin. "Put on the suit and let's go a few rounds." He challenged. Carter shook her head. "Captain, this is not the time for this." She tried to protest.

Thor chuckled loudly at the scene. "You people are so petty..and tiny." He laughed.

Fury rolled his eyes. "Agent Romanoff would you please escort Dr. Banner to-."

"To where? You already rented out my room." Banner interrupted still talking loudly.

Fury shook her head. "The cell was just in case-."

"-in case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I've tried!" Banner cut him off again scaring Carter a little with his last statement.

"You what?"

Banner shrugged his shoulders. "I...I got low." He muttered. "I didn't see an end so I shot a bullet in my mouth and the other guy...spit it back out." Banner explained.

Carter felt her blood run cold. "So then I moved on, I focused on helping other people and I was good. I was good until you showed up and dragged me back into this freak show putting everyone here at risk!" Banner pointed an accusing finger at Agent Romanoff.

"You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm? Well, here's my answer to your question." Banner nearly grinned.

Carter reached into her holsters for her sedative knives. Fury reached for his gun.

"Dr. Banner." Steve addressed the Doctor authoritatively. "Put down the scepter."

Banner looked down at his hand. Confusion lit his expression briefly before he turned and set the scepter down.

The computer Tony was at began to beep and Dr. Banner sighed before quickly making his way towards the monitor.

"Sorry Kids, looks like you don't get to see my party trick after all." He muttered sarcastically before analyzing the readout on the computer.

"You've located the Tesseract?" The armored man asked. Dr. Banner suddenly took off his glasses. "My God..." He started to turn around when an explosion threw everyone off balance.

Steve and Stark slid across the lab into each other while Dr. Banner and Carter fell through a hole cracked into the middle of the floor.

"Ah!" Carter cried out in pain when Agent Romanoff fell on top of her and the floor tiles fell around them.

"Sorry!" Romanoff quickly tried to flip herself onto her feet, but her leg was stuck under a pipe.

Carter grimaced and looked down to see the blood flowing again from several of her old wounds. "Don't worry about it...I don't think anything's broken. Are you okay?" She asked.

Nearby she heard Banner groaning.

"I'm okay!" Natasha answered her breathily as she struggled to free herself. "Dr. Banner are you okay?" She asked. The only answer she got was a loud groan.

Carter paled when she noticed a green hue taking over Banner's normal skin color.

"Oh crab apples" She hissed and turned to free Agent Romanoff waving away some foot soldiers when they tried to come check in on the situation.

_This is not good..._

...


	6. Chapter 6

**(Chapter Next. Here comes the big fight with Barton. I hope you like it.)**

...

"Shh!" Natasha warned Carter as they ducked under a ventilation shaft to hide from the Hulk. Carter bit her lip to keep from snapping at her.

She put her hands at her knives to distract herself clenching her jaw as she listened to the sounds of the Hulk roaring and stomping around closer to their location.

Turning she positioned herself to watch Natasha's back when the Hulk suddenly appeared around the corner at her. Mercy nearly lost her composure, but she regained it quickly enough to throw her knives at him right at his chest.

The Hulk roared with pain, but he batted the knives away easily as if they were unraveled pieces of paper clips.

Natasha pulled out her gun and shot a hole into the pipe above them. The Hulk groaned as the steaming hot air billowed around him. He swung his arms wildly at the steam.

Carter bit her lip and reached inside her pouch for another knife. Scrambling to her feet she helped Natasha up and the two of them made their getaway from the scene.

"Carter!" Natasha started to warn her, but she was too late. Carter started to turn her head when the Hulk suddenly popped out from the side and hit her in the side of the face.

She fell into Natasha causing her to fly into the wall on the other end of the hall. Carter groaned as she fell face first on the ground ten feet away.

Her face throbbed and her arms burned from all her old wounds, but she ignored the pain as the Hulk drew closer to her location. Natasha quickly pulled out her gun, but before she could shoot Thor jumped out and tackled Hulk into the next room.

Carter breathed a sigh of relief. _Saved by the god! _"Carter!" Romanoff hurried to her side. Carter shook her head. "Director!" She tapped into her ear piece.

"Banner's been compromised! He's tearing the ship apart! What are your orders?" She asked.

The comm crackled before Fury responded. "Leave him to the others! I need you to track down Barton! He's taken out engine one and he's headed for the detention level! Do you copy?"

Carter felt her eyes grow wide. "Agent Carter do you copy?" Fury repeated. Again Carter hesitated. Agent Romanoff sighed and finally bent over to grab the comm.

"This is Agent Romanoff. I copy." She said before shutting off the communicator. Carter glared at her as she tossed the device back at her.

"This is _my_ assignment." She glowered. Natasha cocked her head to the side. "I know. I just thought you might want some back up...Considering how your last one on one fight with Barton went." She nodded at Mercy's injuries.

Mercy scowled at her. "I made a promise I have to keep." She insisted before throwing herself back onto her feet.

Romanoff rolled her eyes. "And I have no problem with that...Just let me come with you as back up. I have a debt to settle anyway. It'll be fun." She rolled her shoulders back and cocked her gun.

Mercy pulled out a long knife. "Only on one condition...I want to be the one to finish him off." She growled startling Natasha a bit.

After a second she smiled at her. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Agent Carter." She stroked her gun.

...

"Shh!" Carter put a finger to her lips as she stopped Romanoff halfway down the corridor where Barton had lost been spotted.

Natasha rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak when something clicked down the hall.

Carter whirled around weapon at the ready, but there was no one there. She waited tense for another sound. Suddenly Natasha gasped and Carter turned back around to see what had alarmed her, only to come face to face with Barton.

Barton smiled and grabbed Carter by the throat before slamming her into the opposite wall kicking Natasha away from her side. Carter clenched her jaw to keep from wincing in pain as she lost her grip on her knife.

"Clint!" She choked grabbing onto the former agent's forearm in an attempt to loosen his grip.

"Clint it's me!" She pleaded with him with her eyes. Barton's grip only tightened though and Carter gasped as she began to suffocate.

A tear trickled down her cheek.

"Hey!" Natasha suddenly knocked into Barton's side tackling him away from Carter. Mercy gasped and crumpled to the ground choking for air as her neck throbbed with pain.

Barton tried to grab Natasha by the leg, but she twisted around and flip kicked him in the head with her other leg before flipping him to the ground.

Barton grunted then let out a growl before elbowing her in the stomach. When Agent Romanoff feinted back, he kicked her in the chest, knocking her all the way across the corridor.

Carter clenched her jaw, grabbed four knives in her hands and charged down towards her target.

Clint turned and drew back his arm to punch her, but Carter was faster. She leaped onto his torso and locked her legs around his waist before using her body weight and his momentum to twist him onto the ground.

She quickly shifted her position so that she was sitting on him and pinned him down with two of her knives. She pressed the other two at Clint's throat.

He froze for a second, swallowing gingerly at the knives before looking up at her.

Mercy smirked. "Sorry Love." She tightened her grip on her knives then struck him swiftly in the head with the blunt end of her weapons.

Barton fell limp underneath her and Mercy dropped her knives. She slowly reached to check his vitals when Barton suddenly awoke and grabbed her by her injured wrist.

Carter let out a surprised gasp and yelped as he threw across the room. Barton stood then and pulled his bow out of his strap with a snap.

A cold sinister grin spread across his face as he grabbed an arrow and fitted it to his bow. Carter's eyes grew wide.

"Ha!" Natasha suddenly appeared out of nowhere and kicked Barton in the head again sending him flying into the opposite wall headfirst.

Barton groaned, but when he tried to get up again Natasha hit him again this time with the butt end of her gun knocking him out cold.

Carter groaned and struggled to get up as Natasha briefly surveyed her victim. "Is he...?"

"Out cold. We should get him to a room though. He'll be more comfortable there than on the floor." She smirked as she stood and pocketed her gun.

Carter spit some blood onto the ground. "I told you I wanted him." She growled despite the growing pain in her neck.

Natasha shrugged. "Would you rather I let him shoot you?" She asked coyly. Carter narrowed her eyes at that.

"He wouldn't have done it." She said defensively.

Natasha snorted. "Right." She bent over and grabbed Barton by his underarms. "Help me out will you? He's a lot heavier than I thought he was going to be." She said without looking up from her burden.

Carter sighed. "Sure thing." She picked up her knives from the floor and pocketed them before walked over to Barton's unconscious form.

She grimaced before gently picking him up by the legs. "Oi Vey..." Romanoff murmured and Carter snapped her head up to look at him.

"What?" She demanded. Natasha shook her head. "Your neck...Barton is going to flip when he realizes he did that to you." She looked pale.

Carter winced at the thought. "He didn't know what he was doing." She said quietly and gritted her teeth as she attempted to carry Clint towards the nearest exit.

"Doesn't matter. He's still going to try to kill himself for it." Natasha said as if it were nothing. "You're right things might have changed since he brought me back to base, but you're always the one he cared most about...and that's never going to change even if someone hotter than me comes along his path next time." She smirked.

Carter remained silent for a minute.

"Come on. Let's just get out of here before he comes around and decides to go for another round." She spoke after a few minutes had gone by, taking a careful step backwards down the hall.

Natasha nodded her head. "Whatever you say Miss Nyas." She smirked and tightened her grip around Barton's torso.

Carter shot her a look. "Don't call me that."

...


	7. Chapter 7

**(Next Chapter. It's short I know but I hope you'll like it. I own nothing but Carter.)**

...

Slowly he came to with a searing pain in his head. His temples flared pulsing with pain as different voices floated through his consciousness.

Soft voices...harsh voices...familiar voices...who were they?...Where was he?...

"Clint!...Clint it's okay! Listen to me! You're going to be all right." A woman's voice broke through the haze.

It was soft and gentle yet worried at the same time. Clint knew _that_ voice. There was no mistaking it. Suddenly the haze cleared and he opened his eyes looking up to see Agent Carter staring at him with a worried expression on her face.

"Hey." She cooed while gently bathing his face with a cool face cloth. "Welcome back." She smiled. Barton just gaped at her.

"Mercy!" He tried to move towards her, but his arms were restrained to the sides of his bed. Mercy backed instinctively away from him and put away the face cloth.

"Calm down. I'll get you out. The restraints were only a precautionary step in case your concussion didn't do the trick." She smirked lightly before bending over to hit a combination on his bedside.

Clint groaned. "You don't understand." He muttered painfully before turning to face her slowly. "Have you ever had someone pull out your brain and play?" He asked. "Take you out and stuff someone else in...you have no idea what it's like to be unmade." He spoke in a voice that did not sound like himself.

Carter clenched her jaw. "You know I do, Clint." She straightened after undoing his hand restraints and reached for the cloth in the bowl of water she left at his bedside.

Clint stared at her, pain and regret flashing through his cool grey eyes as he traced every single one of her injuries with his eyes. Most looked a few days old though a couple looked new.

He swallowed hard and forced himself to look away for a minute. "Why am I back?" He asked startling Mercy for a second. "How did you get him out?" He asked looking down at his feet.

Carter shook her head. "I didn't...Agent Romanoff performed some intense cognitive recalibration on you though." She smirked as she gently grabbed his right arm and tenderly cleaned at the burn he still had there.

Barton stared at her blankly. Carter dropped the grin. "She hit you really hard on the head." She murmured avoiding his gaze as she worked to dislodge a piece of dirt from his wound.

Barton chuckled bitterly at that and looked down to watch her work. "Of course she did...you gotta remind me to thank her once I'm sorted." He twitched his fingers slightly.

Carter bit her lip. "Yeah of course." She muttered unable to hide the obvious slight she felt from Barton's statement.

Barton noticed immediately. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." Mercy turned instantly to soak the cloth in the bowl of water. Clint leaned forward in his seat a little.

"No Mercy! Tell me." He pleaded his voice barely a whisper. He reached his free arm to stroke the ugly bruising going down her neck and tried to look into her eyes.

Mercy flinched. She pulled the cloth from the bowl and wrung it out before going back to attend to Clint's wounds.

"When you brought back Agent Romanoff to work for S.H.I.E.L.D instead of killing her...what were you thinking?" She asked answering his question with a question of her own.

Clint didn't answer her right away. "I was thinking...that we could probably use someone like her in our operation...and that everyone deserved a second chance. I just never thought you'd react the way you did when I came back to base." He finished gazing Carter sadly.

Mercy bit her lip. "I thought you had replaced me." She said honestly pausing in her minstrations. "...Agent Romanoff was a lot of things I wasn't...she was something I could never be no matter how long I trained and worked to be the best."

She squeezed the wash cloth a little and blinked to hold back the tears. "I saw the way you'd look at her too." She clenched her jaw and turned away to hide her face.

Clint surprised her by gently flipping his arm over and grabbing her hand. "Yeah you're right, you could never be like Natasha, Mercy...no matter how much you tried." He looked at her seriously.

Carter felt her heart ache.

"So I was right...you do love her." Her voice trembled and she knew Clint could tell she was about to lose it despite her efforts to mask her emotions. She felt so embarrassed and childish.

"Mercy look at me." Clint directed softly. He let go of her hand and leaned forward so he could cup her face in his palm.

Reluctantly Mercy looked up to meet his eyes. A tear trickled down her cheek and Clint did not hesitate before wiping it away.

Mercy swallowed hard. "Is it true?" She asked in a voice that was barely a whisper. Clint frowned slightly at that. "Is what true?" He asked worriedly.

Mercy clenched her jaw. "What Natasha told me...she said that you never stopped caring for me even after I walked out on you that night...is that true or am I right about you and her?" She asked and dug her fingernails into the sides of her thighs.

Clint did not answer her right away. After awhile Mercy turned to leave thinking his answer was against her, but Clint pulled her firmly back down on the bed.

Mercy tried to protest, but he silenced her by gently cupping her other cheek in his left hand and kissing her lovingly on the lips.

At first Mercy was frozen to the spot, then slowly she returned the kiss knotting her fingers through his short bristly hair as Clint gently cradled her chin in his hands.

She pulled him closer to her, deepening the kiss until Clint accidentally pushed too hard on the side of her neck causing her to jerk away in pain.

Startled Clint slammed abruptly back into the headboard breathing very audibly as Mercy instinctively placed her hand against the right side of her neck.

"Mercy? What happened? Did I...?" He trailed off, his eyes gleaming with worry. Mercy quickly shook her head. "No it's nothing serious. Just a bruise." She lowered her arm and awkwardly tried to fix her clothes.

Clint clenched his fists. "Mercy...did I do that to you?" He asked staring at the hand shaped mark that discolored nearly the whole side of Mercy's neck.

"Did I do _all_ of those to you?" He looked down at all the bullet riddle marks, cuts and gashes that covered her arms.

When he saw the large wound on Mercy's forehead his heart sunk and he buried his face in his hands. Mercy quickly returned to his bedside.

"Clint don't do this to yourself. You didn't know what you were doing and I'm sure I did more damage to you than you did to me." She immediately tried to grab his hand.

Clint shook his head.

"I highly doubt that." He chuckled bitterly before sobs wracked though his body. Mercy pursed her lips together and stroked his arm gently as she listened him choke back the tears.

"Clint look at me." She directed him in a soft firm voice, trying to pull his hands away from his face at the same time. "This is not your fault. This is Loki's. He's a monster and he's got powers and abilities that, we could never have prepared for in our wildest dreams." She stroked her thumb against the side of his wrist.

Clint let his hands fall away from his face at that. Mercy sighed when she saw the tear stains and turned to grab the face cloth again.

"Here." She directed. "We can't have people finding you in here crying like a girl when you just managed to take out two main engines and several well trained soldiers almost single handedly the other day." She smirked slightly and Clint snorted.

"How many?" He asked and the tone in his voice worried Mercy. "What?"

"How many good agents did I kill?...Was Coulson-?"

"No!...Coulson's death is not on you and nor is anyone else's." Mercy cut him off and mopped the side of his face with the cool water.

Clint looked up to meet her eyes. "He's dead though?" He asked though it really wasn't a question. Mercy nodded her head.

"And Loki...did he get away?" Clint continued. Mercy nodded her head. "Afraid so. You wouldn't happen to know where, would you?" She asked getting up to replace the face cloth.

Clint shook his head. "Didn't need to know...didn't ask." He muttered and averted his gaze briefly.

Mercy ducked to look into his eyes. "What did he tell you, Clint?" She asked in a soft voice. Clint let out a sigh.

"He's going to make his play soon...if memory serves me right." He looked down at his hands as if they didn't belong to him. "Today actually."

Mercy's eyes grew wide. "Well then we have to stop him." She said almost immediately. Clint looked up to meet her gaze. "Who's we?"

"You, me and anyone else who's left." She sighed and looked over her shoulder towards the window. "We lost a couple of our avengers when Dr. Banner snapped his wire, but I think we should be more than sufficient to take Loki down until we can find them." She crossed her arms.

Clint chuckled at that surprising Mercy. "Well...maybe if I can manage to put an arrow through the guy's eye socket tonight I can sleep better at night." He clenched his fists again and took in a tense breath of air.

"I don't care if I wasn't myself Mercy," he continued. "I'll never forgive myself or Loki for making me do all those terrible things...for making me hurt you most of all." He dug his fingernails into his palms drawing a bit of blood from his hands as he did so.

Mercy grabbed his hands. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say something like that...At least you sound more like yourself now." She smiled slightly while gently rubbing her thumbs against his knuckles.

Clint snorted and loosened his grip. "Yeah but you don't." He looked at all her wounds again. "Before now, you never acted as if you were really all that vulnerable. Now you're questioning everything I thought you knew...why has that changed?" He asked.

Mercy lowered her gaze. "It was nothing-."

"No tell me! Was it Loki? Did he do something to you?"

"No! I just-!..." Mercy started and trailed off feeling her stomach churn at the memory of her conversation with the god.

His words echoed through her mind and as she couldn't help but flinch as she replayed his horrible threats to her. She knew his horrible smile and mocking voice would continue to haunt her dreams for many days to come despite the fact that Clint was here now and out of his control.

"He was going kill you Clint...after he made you kill me...I just..." Mercy trailed off and bit down on her lip as the terror washed over her anew.

Clint quickly pulled her into an embrace, kissing her gently on the forehead as she nestled against his arms.

"I promise you...he will pay for what he did to us, Mercy." He looked into Mercy's eyes seriously and stroked her bruise carefully with his fingers.

Mercy nodded her head at that. "I know. We'll make him pay for it together." She said in a shaky yet low dangerous voice. "You and me. Just like old times." She smiled.

Clint smiled back at her. "I'd love that." He whispered and Mercy felt her cheeks grow warm. "I love _you_ Hawkeyes." She sat up suddenly and pulled him back down for another kiss.

Clint obliged smiling when he heard her use her old favorite nickname for him. "I love you too."

...


	8. Chapter 8

**(Next Chapter. A looong chapter. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy. Also I don't know how much you're enjoying Agent Carter, but I've already started writing a sequel for this story. I'll post it when I'm done. :) )**

...

"I know that look." Natasha smirked as she peeked into the room where Agent Barton had been left to recover from his mental debilitation.

Agent Carter was inside sitting on the bed with an unmistakable look on her face complete with a blush. Clint was nowhere to be seen though.

"What look?" Mercy fiddled with one of her knives as the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I told you he was into you." She said a little more smugly than what Mercy felt was necessary.

"Yeah yeah...I owe you an apology Natasha." Mercy rocked awkwardly back and forth on the bed.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "For what?" She asked coming to sit down next to Carter.

Mercy bit her lip. "I never treated you right since you came to join our ranks..and no matter what it wasn't right." She looked up to meet the other agent's eyes. "First and foremost we are co-agents after all." Natasha sighed.

"You had every right to be irritated with me. I'm hard to get along with plus it's not like I was completely innocent when it came to Barton." She licked her lips and looked towards the window.

Mercy frowned slightly at that. "So you did have feelings for him." She muttered. She knew she sounded jealous and she had no reason to be, but she couldn't help herself.

Natasha let out a soft laugh at her statement. "Love is for children and softies Carter. I told you..I just owed him a debt." She stood from the bed.

She stretched out for a second then she fixed Agent Carter with a genuine smile. "I really am happy for you Agent Carter. I hope it all works out for you two in the end."

Mercy started to smile back at her when the bathroom door opened behind her and Clint walked out drying his hands on a towel.

"Did I miss something?" He asked looking from Natasha back to Mercy with a slightly worried look on his face. Mercy shook her head. "Not really." She stood and kissed him on the cheek before pulling a hair from his shirt.

"Natasha and I were just making small talk." She turned to shoot the other agent a wry smile and Natasha rolled her eyes good humoredly.

"Really? I thought I came in here to say I told you so." She smirked and tossed her head making her curls fly up from her face.

Clint furrowed his eyebrows. "Told you so about what?" He asked looking down to give Mercy a questioning look. Mercy shook her head.

"Nothing. Let's just go report to Director Fury." She took his hand and started to lead him from the room. Clint smiled when he noticed her blush.

"Agent Carter!" Captain Rogers suddenly burst through the door and took a step back when he saw Mercy holding hands with Clint.

"Um...whoa. Sorry was I interrupting something?" He asked looking from Clint and Mercy to Natasha who merely shrugged her shoulders.

"No not at all." Mercy smoothly replied keeping her grip on Clint's hand. "We were just about to report to Director Fury. What's the news?" She asked.

Steve sighed heavily. "Loki's been spotted...at Stark Tower in Manhattan. Tony's gone ahead to contain him, but we need to go as back up. Any of you know how to pilot one of these attack jets?" He asked.

Clint let go of Mercy's hand and stepped forward so he was standing in front of her. "I can." He said and Steve gave him a wary look. "Are you sure?"

Mercy nodded her head. "He's good." She turned to smile at Clint and walked up to stand at his side. Clint smiled back at her.

"Okay..." Steve nodded his head seeming a little bit more at ease. "You got a suit Agent Barton?" He asked. Clint cocked his head to the side. "Yes."

"Good then suit up. We're leaving immediately." He nodded at Mercy and Natasha before striding from the room.

Mercy smiled and turned around to face Clint's full profile.

"Well I guess this is it then." She said making Clint smile again. "Yes it is." He murmured.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Okay I'm going to go change." She said abruptly, getting up to leave the room.

Clint turned to watch her leave. He chuckled before turning back immediately to focus on Mercy."You better go suit up too Love." He said brushing a stray strand of hair from her face with his hand.

"I'll be waiting at the hanger bay." He promised. Mercy nodded and dropped her gaze. "What?" Clint asked thinking he had upset her somehow, but Carter just looked up and kissed him quickly on the lips.

"I'll see you out there, Hawkeyes." She whispered before turning to follow after Natasha's example.

Clint smiled and nodded his head after her. "Yes you will." He called just loud enough for her to hear him.

Turning he headed over to the other side of the room where his battle uniform was.

...

"Wow!..." Natasha muttered cocking her head to the side when she saw Agent Carter standing by the hanger entrance. Carter turned towards her.

"What? You don't like it?" She asked showing off the arm bands which she was wearing with her new uniform.

Natasha shook her head. "It just doesn't seem like you. Is this because of Barton?" She asked grinning coyly.

Mercy shrugged. "Sort of...I don't want him to have to see all my bruises and bullet wounds while we're together. Plus my other uniform is still being cleaned and I haven't had a chance to try this one out yet." She took a deep breath and adjusted her wrist band.

"Besides I've seen you dressed worse." She added a bit smartly. Natasha rolled her eyes. "In my defense that's not one of my official uniform prototypes." She crossed her arms then gave Mercy another up and down look.

"You look great." She admitted clearly disgruntled. "But with that cleavage I'm not sure what would distract Barton more, your curves or your wounds."

Mercy rolled her eyes. "I think she looks fantastic." Clint stepped up, tugging on his dark leather grip gloves as he approached the other two agents.

Mercy dropped her gaze. "You're just saying that." She muttered. "I'd look horrible to you if it wasn't for all these arm bands and stuff." She reached to straighten the choker she was wearing which acted as a cover for the bruising on her neck.

Clint walked over and put his hands gently on her bare shoulders. "You could never look horrible to me." He reassured her before gently flipping her bangs from her forehead.

Mercy started to smile at him.

"Hey! Is everyone ready? I'm not getting a response from Stark so we need to hurry!" The Captain rushed in, carrying his battle helmet under his arm.

Clint and Mercy pulled abruptly away from each other. "Yes! We're ready!" Clint quickly assumed his professional tone.

"Just tell us what to do Captain." Natasha added. Steve nodded his head at her. "Good. Let's get a jet from the hanger. It's about a fifteen minute flight from here to Stark Tower." He walked through the door and motioned with his arm for the others to follow.

Clint nodded when he saw the vehicle he was looking for. "That one." He pointed and the Captain turned to follow his lead. Mercy kept up at their heels.

"Uh excuse me guys, you're not authorized to-."

"Son!..Just don't." Captain Rogers cut the guard off. When the boy hesitated, Natasha leaned forward and whispered something into his ear.

The guard's eyes grew wide. He quickly backed away before putting away his gun and saluting Captain Rogers. "As you were Captain." he bowed timidly and Steve gave him a slight questioning look.

"At ease." He walked into the jet first and motioned for the others to follow. Clint leaned over and whispered into Mercy's ear as they followed Natasha up the ramp.

"What do you think she told him?" He asked nodding at the guard. Mercy shook her head. "I don't think we want to know." She whispered back tickling his neck with her breath.

Clint chuckled at that. "Yeah maybe you're right." He took her hand and squeezed it before leading her into the plane.

...

"Captain this doesn't sound good...It sounds like Stark is taunting Loki or something." Carter worried as she struggled to maintain the communication lines they were using to listen in on Stark and Loki's confrontation back in Stark Tower.

Steve merely rolled his eyes at this assessment while Clint muttered out an "Idiot." from his seat. "Not surprising. Knowing Stark." The Captain leaned over to check the readouts on the navigation panel over Clint's shoulder.

Mercy sighed. "Captain, he's not wearing his suit. This could pose a serious problem." She leaned over the communication panel.

No one bothered to answer her though Clint glanced at her worriedly from the pilot's seat. They were advancing on Stark Tower now on the edge of New York City.

Mercy could just barely see the glowing white letters that made up the entrance sign.

"You know I wouldn't be surprised if that idiot gets his clock cleaned way before we can get to him." Natasha murmured as she leaned over to adjust something from the co-pilot's seat.

Mercy glared at the amusement she heard in her voice. She started to turn and snap something irritably at the other agent when her communication lines suddenly went dead in mid transmission.

Captain Rogers turned from his seat at the sudden quiet as Mercy frantically started hitting switches on her control panel.

"What's happening?" He asked. Mercy shook her head. "I don't know! I just-." She started and stopped when she saw something swoop up from the ground in front of Stark Tower.

Clint pulled back on the controls a little as Tony floated over the balcony where he had fallen from.

By squinting, Mercy could just make out the armored figure standing in the window. _Loki!..._ She narrowed her eyes and tried to open the communication lines again.

"Tony! We're on your tail! Three headed northeast!" Natasha spoke through the speakers to get Tony's attention once Mercy managed to reconnect with the comms on his suit.

"What? Did you stop for drive thru? Swing up and park! I'm gonna lay em out for ya!" Stark zoomed by and that's when Clint noticed the vast army of aliens coming up from portal that was positioned at the top of Stark Tower.

"Oh boy..." Mercy breathed leaning forward in her seat a little. Natasha hopped over her seat to get to the guns. "Take the seat Carter! This is about to get hot!" She smirked.

Mercy smirked back despite herself and scrambled past Steve to get to the co-pilot's seat. Steve got up to brace himself on the ceiling.

"You think you can handle this, Love?" Clint asked without looking in Mercy's direction. Carter shrugged as they narrowly missed getting hit through the main windshield.

"Are you kidding? I was born for this kind of stuff." Mercy smirked. Clint returned the grin. "Then hang on!" He suddenly took the plane into a steep right turn dive.

Captain Rogers barely managed grab something to keep from sliding across the cockpit. A few alien crafts went down around them and Mercy screamed as the ship rattled under fire and they almost lost control.

"Natasha!" She shouted into the comlink.

"Carter! There's too many of them for me to take out!...Clint, you're losing a stablizer!" Natasha barked her voice crackling from the gun port.

"Yeah! I noticed!" Clint barked back before engaging the plane's emergency thrusters. Mercy leaned back in her seat, reaching the handle of one of her knives as Clint brought the plane to a crash landing.

Clint released everyone's restraints as the plane's engines died and everyone scrambled get out of the jet.

"We gotta get back up there!" Captain Rogers pointed up at Stark Tower where the alien portal was being held open by the Tesseract.

Mercy drew out two of her knives and armed them just as a large turtle like creature dove towards the group. "Carter!" Clint grabbed her by the arm and pushed her behind him to keep her from getting crushed under the creature.

One of her knives flew out of her hand and Mercy jumped up over Clint's head, using the momentum his pull gave her to kick it in the direction of the aliens that hopped down from the large creature.

Clint grimaced when he saw the blade go through right in between the eyes of an alien. "Ugh, why did I have to watch?" He groaned before reaching for his bow behind his back.

Mercy landed gracefully back on her feet and reached for two more knives hidden under her top as more aliens fell into the city.

"Mercy! Natasha! We have Civillians trapped in there!" Clint motioned to an upturned bus and a caved in building where a bunch of people including children were crying for help.

Mercy pursed her lips together. "Stark! Are you seeing this?" Captain Rogers called towards the Iron Man while tapping on his ear comm.

"Seeing! Still working on believing." Tony responded flying over the group again. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Steve seemed confused and concerned. Natasha shook her head. "We don't have time for this!" She snapped while shooting another alien in the chest.

Everyone's COMMs crackled. "Just keep me posted! I'm going to go round them up!" Stark barked and flew away. Clint, Natasha and Mercy ducked behind an overturned car.

"Watch out!" Mercy cried out, pushing Clint out of the way just before a bolt of energy whizzed by his ear. Natasha whipped around on her heel and shot the alien right in the back of the head.

"Thanks!" Clint smiled gratefully at his partner before reaching for one of his arrows.

Mercy pulled out one of her long knives. "Don't mention it." She smirked before turning around to stab one of the larger aliens in its nose.

The creature howled and made a swipe for the assassin's neck, but Mercy dodged skillfully under his arm and shoved two more knives into the back of its spine killing the creature.

Mercy smirked satisfactorily at her work as Natasha killed two more aliens with one shot.

"Captain! You should go!" Natasha jerked her head in the direction of the collapsing building. "We'll get the people out of the bus!" She backed her way back towards Clint and Mercy shooting everything in her path.

"Go!" Mercy nodded at Steve before reaching towards a dead alien's snout to pull out her long knife. "We'll handle this!" She assured him.

Steve still hesitated. "Do you think you can hold em off?" He worried. Clint responded by arming his bow with a fresh array of arrows.

"Captain? It would be my genuine pleasure." He smirked before shooting an arrow over his right shoulder. Mercy grinned when the tip opened up and released three more smaller darts.

"You used my idea." She said smugly before taking out another alien. Clint shrugged as the Captain headed for the building to rescue the people. "Yeah well I was running out of my own." He said sarcastically before grabbing another arrow.

Natasha slid under his arm and shot an alien under her leg before instantly back flipping back on her feet next to Mercy.

"Just like Budapest all over again, huh Carter?" She winked at the agent who rolled her eyes back at her in return.

"We remember Budapest very differently." She muttered before tossing four of her small knives at the same time.

"I agree." Clint mumbled before loosing another arrow. He jumped over some rubble to get to the bus and pried open a window.

"Mercy! Natasha! Help me get everyone out!" He barked over the noise of the people and the aliens.

Mercy nodded and stabbed another alien before putting away her knives. She and Natasha pried open the door and helped the people in the front of the bus get out before ordering them to move towards the bridge away from Stark Tower.

Clint pulled the rest of them out through the window and Mercy quickly jumped over an upturned car to cover his back just as more aliens hopped over the bus.

She reached for her knives but she wasn't quite fast enough. Suddenly a large bolt of lightening struck the aliens and they fell limp at her feet.

She and Clint started to exchange glances when Thor came down striking the ground with his hammer.

"Welcome back." Mercy started to grin when Captain Rogers ran back up from the building where the people were making their escape. Mercy lost her grin a little when she noticed he looked beaten up.

"Are you okay, Captain?" She asked a little concerned. "Yeah! No sweat!" Steve brushed her off before doubling over to catch his breath. "How are you? What's the story upstairs?" He asked.

Thor looked grim. "The power surrounding the Tesseract is impenetrable." He said before Mercy had a chance to answer. "He's right! We've got to finish dealing with these guys!" Stark suddenly came back on the COMM recievers.

"How?" asked Natasha.

"As a team." Steve answered her. Mercy started to smile. "Boy I wish my Grandmother could see us now." she said in a half wistful way. "She'd go nuts." She grinned.

Steve grinned back at her.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor cut in and Clint rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Well get in line." He muttered non too politely.

"Save it!" Steve gave Clint a severe look before walking around Natasha to get to the center of the group.

"Loki's going to keep the fight focused on us and that's what we need! Without him these things could go wild!" He explained. Mercy nodded her head.

"He's right! We'll need to keep the aliens contained somehow within the border of Manhattan." She said in a cool voice. "And how do you propose we do that?" Thor asked fixing her with his cool blue eyes.

Captain Rogers pointed to the sky. "We've got Stark up top! That means that he's going to need us to..." he started to explain then trailed off when a run down old motorcycle suddenly pulled up behind the group. A tired looking man in torn trousers hopped off the seat.

"So...this all seems horrible." Banner said in a remarkably calm voice as he approached the group.

Natasha shrugged. "Eh I've seen worse. Right Carter?" She nodded at Mercy who shrugged. "I would say otherwise, but my cheek still stings." She joked weakly.

Dr. Banner looked sheepish. "Sorry."

"No, we could use a little worse actually." Natasha shook her head grinning like a cat. Mercy rolled her eyes as Steve tapped on his communicator.

"Stark! We've got Banner!"

"Banner?"

"Yeah! Just like you said!"

"Then tell him to suit up! I'm bringing the party to you!" Stark said before going off line again. "Oh geez." Clint groaned when he saw the huge mass of aliens riding on more turtle creatures coming their way with Stark as their leader.

Mercy shook her head. "Yeah, I don't see how that's a party."

Dr. Banner shrugged and calmly started walking towards the biggest Turtle in the pack. "I think it looks like fun." He said before peeling off his jacket.

Mercy and Clint exchanged glances.

"Hey Doc? Now might be a real good time to get angry." Steve suggested. Dr. Banner just smiled. "Well that's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry." He turned to face the group one more time before his body expanded ten times its size.

Mercy grinned as the Hulk took full form and brought his massive fist on top of the turtle creature's head stopping it before it could mow over the rest of the group.

Clint pulled Mercy out of the way and used his own body to shield her from the falling debris while Natasha ducked with Steve under his shield.

Once the air had cleared Mercy spun out from Clint's protective shade and assumed an offensive position between him and Natasha.

"You know I love you right?" Clint shouted over the noise of the struggle as he re-armed his bow. Mercy whipped her head around at him.

"Is that supposed to be a question?" She asked, pulling out four knives. She spun them two in each hand and Clint chuckled before taking out two more aliens.

"Call it Captain!" Stark called landing to rejoin the group as the chaos continued around them. Steve nodded his head.

"All right! Until we can close that portal out our priority is containment!" He began. "Barton! I want you and Carter on that roof! Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays! Stark, you got the perimeter! Anything gets more than three blocks you turn it back or you turn it to ash!" He directed.

"Gotcha!" Stark clipped.

Clint put away his bow and Mercy did the same with her knives after sticking another alien that wandered too close.

"Care to give us a lift, Mr. Stark?" Clint asked turning his gaze on Iron Man.

"Uh, I can give _one_ of you a lift." Tony answered smartly earning an eyeroll or a head shake from the rest of the group.

"Kidding! Clench up Legolas! And make sure you keep a tight grip on your girlfriend." Stark ordered before swooping down to pick up Clint. Clint grabbed Mercy and she latched on to his waist before Stark flew them to the roof where Steve wanted them to keep an eye on the situation.

"Well! Here we are! Thank you for flying Tony Stark airlines! It's been a pleasure serving you!" Stark saluted them after dropping them off the roof then flew off to run the perimeter.

Clint sighed as Mercy jumped down next to him on the roof.

"You okay?" He asked and checked her over quickly for injuries. Mercy shrugged. "I'm fine. Are you okay?" She asked looking up and preparing herself to jump up onto a roof top slightly higher than the one Stark dropped them on.

Clint pulled her back for a kiss. "I am now." He said with a smile before letting her go so she could get into position. "Be careful." He warned.

Mercy nodded her head. "I will, if you will." She said before taking a running start across the roof. A minute later she was up on a higher perch.

She tapped her ear COMM. "Captain this is Agent Carter. You got three squads coming in on Hulk's tail and about five more behind Agent Romanoff." She reported before taking out three scouts with some of her knives.

"Roger that! Keep us posted!" Steve answered and Mercy nodded. "Will do, Steve." She jumped up and threw four more daggers at the encroaching aliens.

...


	9. Chapter 9

**(Next Chapter. We're almost done. I own nothing but Mercy.)**

...

"Crap!" Mercy hissed as she narrowly missed getting decapitated. Almost instinctively she stabbed the offending alien with two of her remaining knives.

Grimacing she pulled out her pistol since she was running low on throwing knives didn't want to use them all up.

An arrow whizzed by her ear and she whipped her head around just in time to see Natasha zoom by on a stolen alien hovercraft.

"Nat? What are you doing?" Mercy tapped into her COMM. Clint lowered his bow when he heard the worry in Mercy's voice, but then he raised it again quickly when he realized who was tailing Natasha.

"It's Loki!" He called up Mercy who paled seeing the figure again, the same manic grin plastered to his face as he shot at the agent in front of him. One of his attacks hit the rear end of Natasha's craft and Mercy quickly reloaded her pistol.

"Um guys?..A little help?" Natasha breathed as she made a sharp turn around a corner. Mercy nodded. "We're on it!" She turned to Clint and quickly grabbed another arrow.

"I've got him." He said smirking at his target. He released his grip and Mercy opened fire at Loki's ship to distract him from Clint's arrow. The villian caught it just before it could impale him through the side of his head.

Mercy pursed her lips together and sighed as he turned to smirk at them. "Well that worked well." She said sarcastically before tossing aside her gun.

Clint inconspicuously flicked a couple switches on his bow. "Just wait. This one is just for you, Sweetheart." He started to smirk.

Mercy raised an eyebrow, confused until Loki's craft suddenly blew from the middle and the Asgardian flew through a window in Stark Tower screaming all the way.

She widened her eyes. "Holy Crab apples Clint..." She muttered shocked. Clint chuckled. "Did you like it?" He asked while re-arming his bow.

Mercy shrugged. "Loved it." She tapped out on her COMM before tossing two more of her knives at the aliens who were trying to climb the building at her.

One grabbed her leg, but she shook him off and kicked him in the face before slicing his throat with one of her mini knives.

She turned and took out two more who were trying to sneak up on Barton.

"Carter! Watch yourself they're coming up on your tail!" Stark warned as he flew by trying to contain all the aliens which were beginning to overrun the city.

Mercy nodded and reached for a couple of her special knives. "I got it!" One alien tried to grab her in a strangle hold, but she elbowed him in the face then shoved her knife into his jugular.

Yanking it out she turned to take on the rest of them, stabbing one in the eye socket and another in the chest.

She tried to pivot to get one on her left side, but he lashed out first and knocked one of her knives away sending it off the narrow rooftop she was standing on.

Mercy clenched her jaw and hit a button on her belt. The knife suddenly changed direction and came flying back towards her, taking out three more aliens on its way.

Mercy jumped up and caught it , knocking out another alien in the process. The weapon slapped into her palm with a solid thunk.

"Mercy!" Clint tried to warn her, but he was almost too late. Mercy gasped as she narrowly missed getting face checked by an alien hovercraft.

Her surprise caused her to lose her balance and she lunged frantically for the railing. Clint took out another alien at his toe then he pivoted quickly around to catch her before she could hit the concrete behind him.

"Gotcha!" He grunted and Mercy gasped at the impact. She looked up to see where she was and smiled when she saw Barton.

"Clint?" Mercy smiled and placed her hand on his right cheek wiping a bit of dirt from his forehead.

Clint smiled back at her. "Yeah?" He asked softly. Mercy nodded over his shoulder. "...They're coming up behind us." She nodded at the aliens encroaching on them.

Clint lost the grin. "Right." He quickly set Mercy back on her feet and fitted another arrow to his bow. Mercy came to stand at his side. "Hey!" She kicked an alien in the gut before stabbing him with two knives up in his eye sockets.

"I love you." She glanced at Clint before kicking the decapitated alien off the roof. Clint shot off someone's head.

"I know." He smiled and flicked another switch on his bow. "I love you too." Another hovercraft went down with a deafening howl.

...

"Ugh! This is getting ridiculous!" Mercy moaned as she stabbed another alien in the throat. She and Clint were back to back now and she could barely see Natasha up on the top of Stark Tower trying to close the portal Loki opened with the Tesseract.

There was no sign of the villian since he went through the window at Stark Tower, but Mercy kept her eyes peeled for him anyway.

"Tell me about it." Clint grumbled before taking out another two aliens. Mercy groaned and tapped on her COMM after kicking an alien in the face.

"Natasha! What's the hold up? I thought you said you figured out how to close the portal! Is Selvig still compromised?"

"No!" Natasha grunted as her voice crackled through the speakers. "It's Tony! He just told me that a missile is headed for the city...he's going to put it through the wormhole!"

Mercy felt the blood drain from her face. "Um, he does realize that's a one way trip right?" She asked just before Clint shouted a warning in her direction. "Mercy! Duck!" Mercy looked up then threw herself down on the roof.

She gasped when one of the horns on the turtle beast nicked against the side of her cheek, knocking her COMM off her ear.

She looked down from the building briefly then groaned before reaching for one of her long knives. "Clint, they're still trying to climb the building! We aren't going to be able to hold them off here much longer!" She quickly twisted herself back into an upright position and assumed an offensive position.

Clint nodded his head. "Yeah I know! Hang on! This is going to be rough!" He pulled out another arrow and armed it to his bow.

Mercy realized instantly what he was about to do. "You sure?" She asked before stabbing another alien in the sternum.

Clint grimaced and cracked another across the neck. "Of course I am!" He knocked the creature off the roof then held out his arm for Mercy. "You still have one of your frag knives on you?"

Mercy nodded her head and reached into her belt pack.

"Good! Then come on! We need to blow this taco stand!" He toggled a switch on his bow then readjusted his grip. Mercy pulled a face. "I trust you." She said, planting one of her explosive knives right beneath her feet. It started ticking off the seconds.

"I love you." Clint smiled and pulled back on the arrow before letting it loose. It hit its target just before Mercy's knife exploded taking building with it.

Mercy gasped and leaped onto Clint's back, landing just before the frags could hit her in the legs.

Clint used his bow to coast down the line. "You all right?" He glanced down at Mercy who returned his gaze briefly.

She started to answer him when they went smashing though a window headfirst. Mercy screamed and ducked as shards of broken glass rained down around them. Clint frantically twisted himself around to shield her from the debris.

"Clint!" She gasped once the glass stopped falling. Clint let out a cough and rolled himself over off of Mercy.

"What?" He choked while brushing debris off of his uniform. Mercy looked down. She grimaced and inhaled sharply before putting a hand over her abdomen.

Clint paled. "Mercy let me have a look at that." He bent over to check her out. The minute he tried to pull her hand away from her abdomen, Mercy reached over and pulled a glass shard from his side.

"Ahhh!" Clint screamed and grabbed his ribs instinctively cringing away from his co-agent as Mercy threw the shard away on the floor. She smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry, I didn't want you to freak out." She murmured before standing up.

Clint stared at her for a minute before rolling his eyes. "Right..." He muttered suppressing the urge to wince as he clumsily stumbled to his feet. Mercy stopped him from running towards the stairs.

"Let me have a look at that first." She directed, puttting her hands on his chest before fixing him with one of her famous stubborn looks.

Clint sighed. "Mercy I'll be fine. We need to stop Loki first before the city gets overrun." He tried to bypass her. Mercy sighed and looked down at her arm.

"Then use this!" She pulled off one of her long wrist bands and tossed it at Clint. He sighed and caught it before it could go over his head.

"Thanks." He nodded gratefully before securing the article of clothing to his side using his bow strap.

Mercy shrugged and checked herself for any injuries. "You're welcome." She pulled out her long knife and walked casually past Clint to get to the stairway.

He turned to follow her. "Do you have any idea where you're going?" He asked as Mercy held the door open for him.

Mercy pulled out a second knife. "I have a hunch." She smiled and started up the stairs. Clint smiled back and started up after her.

...


	10. Chapter 10

**(Last Chapter. Thanks for reading. I'm still working on the sequel for this if you're interested in it. Thanks again for reading this story.)**

...

"There he is!" Mercy pointed him out when they finally got to the top floor of the tower. Tony and the others were already there, cornering an injured Loki against the far wall.

Clint armed his bow. "About time." He muttered grabbing an arrow before fitting it and aiming for Loki's head.

Mercy pulled out her long knives and imitated Barton's stance. "No false moves." She sneered as Loki turned to meet their glares briefly. Slowly he returned his attention to Tony.

"Uh..if it's all the same to you...I think I'll take that drink now." He murmured raising his hands above his head. Clint rolled his eyes at him

"Don't get smart, Wise Guy." He took a step closer towards the demi-god. "The only reason I'm not shooting you on sight right now is because I'm on orders." He threatened in a low voice.

Hulk roared in agreement with him.

"Stop it! Let's just get him downstairs so we can take him into custody." Captain Rogers ordered, keeping an eye on Loki as Thor stepped forward to haul him to his feet.

Clint sighed and reluctantly backed off a little as the taller man brushed past him. Loki suddenly grew angry.

"You think this is over?!" He lashed out, making Thor lose his grip on him as he slid a bit clumsily to his feet. "You all think you can just go back to your former lives once I and the Tesseract are gone?! It will never be over! I will be a lasting memory in all of your minds! Stories will be told of this day and you will _never_, no matter what you do, _never_ be able to be rid of me!Especially not you!" He whipped his head around in the general direction of Barton and Carter's position startling Mercy slightly.

Thor struck Loki in the mouth. "Enough! Keep your sharp tongue latched behind your teeth, Brother!" He growled before restraining him firmly by both arms.

Loki fell obediently silent at this, but the cold insane look never left his eyes as the other Asgardian half dragged him from the room. Carter let out an involuntary shiver when his cloak brushed against the back of her leg on his way out.

"You all right?" Clint asked, concern lacing his weary sounding voice as he kept his hand ready on his bow.

Carter nodded her head. "Yeah I'm fine." She muttered though she knew it was not true.

"Really? Cause last I checked, Fine doesn't look like she's about to throw up all over my was brand new linoleum." Stark spoke through the speakers of his Iron Man suit.

Mercy turned to glare at him at that. "I said I'm fine, Tony!" She snapped with more venom then she intended.

Seeing the shocked looks on everyone's faces, including Clint she quickly averted her gaze and sheathed both of her daggers. "I need some air..." She turned to leave the tower.

Clint tried to grab her, but he missed in his hurry. "Mercy!" He tried to call her back, but she didn't stop walking.

The only answer he got was the clattering of broken tiles echoing under heavy footfalls through the stairwell. Steve sighed. "Someone should go after her." He said while looking down to remove his gloves.

Hulk sighed.

"Not me." Tony said almost automatically.

Natasha sighed. "You should go." She nudged Clint. "She'll only listen to you anyway." She muttered looking down at her feet.

Clint hesitated. "I've never seen like this before." He said more to himself than to Natasha. Hulk snorted at that. "She's just overwhelmed." Natasha reasoned.

"You weren't there when Loki spoke to her on the hellicarrier." She muttered pretending not to notice when Clint's eyes narrowed in response.

A distant retching noise followed the remark and it made both Clint and Steve (and Tony) cringe visibly. Hulk turned his head in the direction of the windows.

"Uh, please tell me that wasn't her." Tony started turning a little green though the concern was clear through his sarcasm.

Clint shook his head. "I'll go see what I can do." He muttered, strapping his bow to his back before striding towards the door.

Natasha let her hand slip from his arm. "Good luck." She told him sincerely and Clint caught it. He nodded back at her. "Thanks."

...

"_Despite the devastation of what has been confirmed as an extra-terrestrial attack, the extraordinary heroics of the group known as the Avengers is not something the citizens of Manhattan will soon forget..." _

_"It was incredible! I just wish there was a way I could say thank you for what they've done." _A woman with short brown hair said with tears running down her cheeks.

_"I saw Iron Man!..And Hulk he was like smash!" A boy crowed as he imitated the growling sounds the Hulk made. _

Mercy smiled to herself as she watched another child donning a plastic Iron Man mask while another tried to imitate the way Thor twirled his hammer to summon lightening.

It was endearing if not a little amusing to see little kids trying to be like their favorite avengers. Even if the devastation was still rampant in the city, the people seemed to know who had saved them and they knew to be grateful before being resentful of the damage caused to their homes.

"Hey! They're ready for us." Clint's voice echoed across the room. Mercy sighed when she heard the cheerfulness in his voice and flicked off the television.

Ever since he found her throwing up outside of Stark Tower he'd been acting like she was brittle now. A damsel in distress. Like she wasn't still the diamond hard S.H.I.E.L.D agent she always was till now.

Still she was glad he cared. Aside from Steve and sometimes Natasha, no one else really seemed to notice how anxious she felt since Loki was defeated.

It made her feel weak, pathetic...like a child.

"Do we have to go?" She asked, the question flying out her mouth before she could stop it. "I thought Thor was just going to take Loki into custody with the Tesseract back over to Asgard wherever that is...What does he need us for anymore?" She grumbled to hide her nervousness.

Clint frowned at the tone in her voice. "What do you mean? You know we're all going to go our seperate ways after this, right? Don't you want to say goodbye to the Captain and everyone else?" He folded his arms across his chest.

Mercy sighed as she felt the couch shift underneath her. "I do I just, I don't know if I'll be able to face _him_ again." She bit her lip hoping Clint hadn't heard her though she had no such luck with him.

The agent frowned as he slowly lowered himself next to her.

He gently grabbed the remote from her trembling hands and touched her knee to get her attention. "Mercy, he can't hurt us anymore. You do know that now, don't you? Thor's taking him back to Asgard for judgement." His voice became almost a whisper as he stroked the top of her knee soothingly.

Mercy didn't answer him right away.

"You weren't there when he told me...how he was going to make you kill me...I can still hear him in my head, Clint taunting me...laughing at my fear...and no matter what I do I can't make him stop." She shuddered and shut her eyes against the images that still plagued her thoughts though it had been almost three weeks since the day she interrogated Loki on the hellicarrier.

It still kept her up at night and terrorized her dreams whenever she did manage to fall asleep. Clint didn't know and she didn't want him to know she was still terrified of something that was already long past.

"Mercy, please look at me." The plea in Clint's voice forced Mercy to open her eyes again. She shook her head at him. "I know he can't hurt us anymore after today." She said before a tear rolled down her cheek.

"...but it still scares me." She bit her lip hating that she had just admitted that. "I still jump...thinking he's hiding behind the corner or something."

Clint placed his hands on either side of Mercy's face. "Well you've been through a lot." He reached over to wipe her tears with his thumb and frowned when he saw how upset his Co-Agent was. "It'll take time to work through it." He quoted what Mercy had told him only a few weeks before.

Carter shook her head. "You don't understand-!"

"Yes I do!" Clint cut her off, lowering his hands to take her trembling ones between his. He fixed her with his cool blue grey eyes, pleading with her to hear him out.

"Mercy, don't you dare think for one second that I don't understand how you feel right now." He stroked her knuckles with the pads of his thumbs.

"Cause there's no one in this world who knows better."

Mercy looked down at their hands. She shuddered and swallowed hard before looking down from Clint's gaze.

Barton felt his heart ache at the pain he saw behind her action. It was very unlike the Mercy Carter he'd always known since he met her. She was always so fearless, so strong and unfraid to enter into any given situation.

Seeing her like this, especially when the horrors should have long passed, scared him like he'd never been before.

_D*** you, Loki!_ He cursed silently to himself.

"Huh-Hrum! Sorry to interrupt, but Fury says you two need to get your rears in gear now. We're meeting Thor in twenty minutes." Tony walked into the room and grabbed a drink before leaving again.

Clint started at his entrance. He turned to shoot his fiercest glare after the billionaire before muttering something insolently under his breath.

"What?" Mercy picked her head up from his chest when she caught the swear. Clint shook his head at her. "Nothing. Just telling him like it is, Mercy." He grumbled before turning and smoothing her cheek with the back of his hand again.

Mercy basked against his touch. "He's just trying to get me to feel better in his own way. No need to get all huffy, Clint." She reprimanded before opening her eyes again to narrow them at him. Clint laughed at the familiar coyness he heard her tone.

"Now there's the Mercy Carter I know. At least half of her."He handed her a kleenex from the box she had on the table and stood from the couch.

"Come on, we'd better not keep them waiting any longer. Natasha will think we're up to something." He offered her his hand.

Mercy rolled her eyes. 'I could care less what that Russian fire breathing she-dragon thinks we're doing." She grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "But I trust you." She said with a small smile on her face.

Clint smiled back and closed his hand over her fingers. "I love you." He retorted as if he were a child trying to get a one up on her.

Mercy smirked at the tone in his voice. "I love you too Hawkeyes."

...


End file.
